Spirit Baby
by LittleMissPerfect2
Summary: WARNING: SPOILERS OF THE RUBY CIRCLE. If Olive and Neil were able to have a son thanks to the spirit, will Rose and Dimitri be able too? When Rose discovers she's pregnant, what will people think? And how will her friends help her and Dimitri deal with the pregnancy?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! So, this is my first VA fic. It takes place five years after the Ruby Circle. Rose and Dimitri are married and Sydney and Adrian already have two children**

 **WARNING: It contains spoilers of The Ruby Circle (duuh) and of course, of all the other books too**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my imagination**

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 **Spirit Baby**

 ** _Chapter 1_**

 ** _Words: 1577_**

Rose was freaking out. Even over the phone, Sydney could tell she was freaking out. And that scared the ex-Alchemist. Rose never freaked out, not even when Strigoi attacked and everyone's lives were in danger.

"Rose, calm down. What's going on?" In her mind, Sydney was already thinking about the worst case scenarios. Dimitri left her, someone tried to kill Lissa, Christian died. But none made sense. If something like that had happened, Rose would have called Adrian first. Also, Sydney seriously doubted that Dimitri was capable of leaving his wife; he just loved her too much.

"I...I" she stuttered, which wasn't a good sign, "I need to see you. There's something I need to tell you. And I'm pretty sure only you can help me."

No sarcasm, no jokes; this didn't sound like Rose at all. Something bad must have happened, there was no doubting it. Now the question was: what was it? They agreed to meet the next day at an ice cream shop near the Ivashkov house at four and hang out.

That night, Sydney found herself lying awake in her bed, besides Adrian, who was snoring softly, thinking about what would tomorrow bring. Theories wandered around her head and as much as she wanted to stop thinking about it, her mind just wouldn't rest. She was thinking about it when a disturbing thought came to her. Maybe it was about the Alchemists; maybe something had happened to her sisters or parents. Perhaps they had finally gotten a way to take her away from Adrian.

She quickly dismissed the thought; that couldn't be it. Rose had acted like what was going on concerned herself more than Sydney; it sounded like the dhampir wanted advice, not that she was bringing bad news. Besides, it would have been Lissa the one to contact her if something like that had happened. Hopefully. So, that left her back with nothing. No plausible theory.

 _Think Sydney think,_ she said to herself. She solved Alicia's riddles many years ago and found a way to end up married to a Moroi – a totally forbidden thing to do. Of course, she could just guess what this little problem was about.

Maybe...maybe... And just like that, an idea hit her like a lightning strike. Rose was pregnant! It was the only possible explanation for her behavior. It didn't really surprise her. Both she and Adrian always knew it was going to happen sooner or later. But that didn't mean Sydney knew how to handle it. All she knew was that she was going to need to come up with a plan real quick, for the sake of her friends.

* * *

Sydney turned her alarm off the next morning slightly annoyed. She was normally a morning person—she usually woke up before everyone else and made breakfast—but she had stayed up until late thinking about Rose and her problem. The human wasn´t even sure when she had fallen asleep. And now, she had to meet her friend in a couple of hours and tell her everything was going to be okay because she had a solution. Everyone always expected her to solve their problems and make good plans—unlike the ones Dimitri and Rose came up with—and usually, she would be happy to do so, but this pregnancy stuff was way out of her hands, even if she had a spirit son of her own.

"Sydney, babe, are you okay?" Her husband entered their room and looked at her worriedly. He was already dressed and ready to go teach his art classes, while she was still a mess in her pajamas. "You are usually the first one up. What's going on with you?"

"Nothing, I'm fine. Just overslept," she half-lied. A half truth is better than no truth at all, right?

"You know you can't lie to me. What's got you all worked up?" Sydney hated sometimes that Adrian could read her so well.

"Rose called yesterday" She finally admitted. "She's coming to visit later. And she sounded really overwhelmed over the phone."

"And you've already made, like, a thousand theories about it." His wife opened her mouth to say something but he wouldn't let her. "Don't try to deny it. I know you and you know it's true. So tell me, what do you think it's going on with her?"

Sydney hesitated. Should she tell him? The Dhampir didn't say anything about keeping it a secret, all though Rose also didn't know she knew about the pregnancy.

"I think Rose is pregnant," she finally confessed. Adrian was her husband and also he knew about the spirit babies; he deserved to know.

Adrian Ivashkov seemed shocked. His eyes were wide open and his jaw hung open. Sydney remembered he used to date Rose, and even if it had been years ago, it must still be weird for him to know she was having a baby with another guy. The guy she left him for. He recovered quickly though and smiled widely to her wife.

"That's great. I know Agent Boring Borscht always wanted kids, even if he didn't admit it. And I'm going to be and uncle! Maybe if it's a boy, I could convince Rose to call him Adrian Jr. or maybe even Jet." He was so excited he didn´t even realize the bad part until a few minutes later. "But what are they going to about the spirit? They won't be able to hide it like us."

"I don't know. And that was what had me worried sick all night." Sydney frowned and her husband hugged her waist and gave her a kiss on the cheek, in an attempt to comfort her. "Besides, that's just a conjecture. We don't know if that's what's going on."

"Everything is going to be okay, you'll see. Even if you are right and they are having a baby."

"I really hope so, Adrian."

Sydney let go of her husband and went to get ready. After getting dressed (which took longer than expected, with Adrian kissing her every five seconds) and fixing her hair (or trying, it never really stayed like she wanted), the couple went downstairs to eat breakfast with Eddie, Declan, and Carly.

"And your mom, the Sleeping Beauty, finally rises," said the Dhampir to the children

When Declan was three years old, Sydney had gotten pregnant. Nine months later the couple had had a beautiful baby girl with blonde hair and hazel eyes named after Sydney's sister, Carly, who she had seen only once since she had married Adrian. Now, Declan was five and a half years old and Carly two.

"Hola niños," Sydney greeted her kids. She had read in a book they'd both be better off learning Spanish from the start and no one—not even Adrian—could convince her otherwise.

"Hola mamá."

They talked a few more minutes in Spanish, with Eddie and Adrian only getting a few words. Finally, they all finished eating their breakfast and parted into different paths. Adrian took Declan to kindergarten and stayed there teaching art, while Sydney, Carly, and Eddie went in the other car. The dhampir drove Sydney and then came back home with the car and the toddler, where he acted like a babysitter until it was time to pick the ex-Alchemist up.

All day, Sydney found it hard to concentrate. She took two cups of coffee, breaking her deal with Adrian and almost spilled them both. It wasn't like her at all and her boss noticed. Not that Sydney could answer sincerely when he asked her what was wrong; she just dismissed it and said she was having personal issues. And tried really hard to act normally.

Finally, the hours passed and the time arranged with Rose came. Sydney quickly gathered her stuff and excused herself. She had talked to her boss that morning about working only until twelve and he had agreed- Sydney dedicated so many hours and effort to her work, her boss didn't mind she went home early one day.

Instead of calling Eddie for a lift, she decided to walk to the ice cream shop; it wasn't far away and she could use the exercise. On the way, she planned what she was going to say to her friend, what solution she was going to give her. Once she arrived, the human sat on a table and waited for her dhampir friend. She ordered a vanilla frappuccino for herself and a double chocolate ice cream for Rose; after so many adventures, Sydney learned her food preferences. After several minutes of waitinga—round seven—Rose appeared.

She seemed so much more composed than what Sydney expected. She was ready for wrinkled clothes, hair tangled and crazy eyes. Instead, Rose was dressed in a red shirt and jeans, her hair in a neat ponytail like always—how could Sydney ever expect her hair being anything less than perfect—and, all though she did seem a little edgy, guardians always tended to have that kind of attitude, constantly looking for danger and threats. Rose quickly spotted her friend sitting alone and went to hug her tightly.

"Hey. I've missed you, too," said Sydney.

Rose didn't waste time with small talk and went straight to the point.

"I'm in trouble," she said.

"What happened?" Sydney asked, even though the blonde suspected what was going on, she didn't want to say it until she was a hundred percent sure.

"I'm…I'm…"

"Pregnant?"

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 **That's the end of chapter one! Please give me your reviews, your love/hate to know if I should keep writing this or just abandon it and drown in my failure. Thank you! Byee**

 **PS: The second chapter is probably coming in a few days**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, chapter 2 is here! Thank you for all the love you gave me, even if it weren't much, it made me so happy. So, FYI, this chapter starts with a flashback, so don't be surprised that I didn't pick up right after I finished last chapter. Enjoy**

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 **Spirit Baby**

 ** _Chapter Two_**

 ** _Words: 1062_**

Rose Hathaway had been working all day and was, frankly, feeling exhausted as hell. Even badass killing machines like her needed to rest sometimes. It was all Lissa's fault. She was the one that insisted on visiting Saint Vlad's on such short notice, just because one of the students had presented some vague sign of possessing the spirit. It was probably just a false alarm, but the queen insisting on seeing him herself. Not that Rose blamed her. There weren't many known cases of spirit users, so every time there was even a slight possibility someone had it, Vasilisa jumped into action.

And because Lissa never traveled anywhere without her best friend, the same day the info about the school came, Rose found herself on a plane to Montana instead of resting in her bed after a twelve-hour shift. She had barely had time to pack some clothes and kiss her husband goodbye when the queen had dragged her to the Court's private jet.

The Dhampir tried to sleep on the plane, but since that trip so many years ago when the spirits had overwhelmed her and made her pass out (back when she was still bonded with Lissa), she felt wary about being unconscious in an airplane. So she dedicated her time to talk to her best friend, who hadn't had a lot of time for her lately. It felt good catching up after weeks of barely talking to each other.

They stayed in Saint Vladimir only for a couple of hours, before traveling back to Court in Pennsylvania; therefore Rose was feeling really sleep deprived. She hadn´t slept in more than twenty-four hours, and even though Dhampirs could go longer than humans or Moroi without sleeping, this was too much, even for her. And that's why, as soon as they got back, the first thing Rose did was collapse in her bed. Well, after buying a cheese hamburger, but who could blame her? They smelled just too delicious.

Rose and Dimitri lived in a little apartment just a few minutes away from the monarch's compounds. They tried to coordinate their shifts as much as possible, but because of this last minute trip, it was all altered and Dimitri wasn't home when she arrived. Therefore, there was no one bothering her and telling her she'd be more comfortable with her pajamas on or that she should go brush her teeth; and she went straight to unconsciousness. And that's why she didn't remember to take her contraceptive pill.

…..

"Seriously? That's your excuse? That was so irresponsible! And why the fuck didn't you take it when you woke up?" Sydney never swore. Ever. That's how worried/mad with Rose was.

"Well, I'm sorry I forgot about a fucking little pill when I hadn't slept in over a day," answered the dhampir sarcastically. "I know I should have taken them the next morning, but I woke up late for work and didn't have time. And that day I crashed at Lissa's, so I didn't take it either. And don't look at me so disappointed. I know I screwed up. But I didn't even know if I _could_ get pregnant in the first place. How could I know that this would happen?"

And that was when Sydney noticed something extremely odd: Rose had tears in her eyes. And she never cried. In all the time that Sydney had known her, she had seen her friend cry only once.

It was funny, both girls were acting like Rose was a fifteen-year-old and the father hadn't stepped up. In fact, the dhampir was more than willing to be a father. From anyone on the outside, it would have seemed ridiculous. They should have been celebrating, not crying and worrying. But someone on the outside couldn't have known what of a commotion this pregnancy would cause.

Rose and Dimitri, unlike Olive and Neil, were too famous for this baby to lie low. They were, after all known as the supposed 'killer of Queen Tatiana' and the 'first restored Strigoi'. There was no way they were getting out of this without, at least, a million questions and rumors; if not some tests and experiments.

"Have you told anyone about this?" Sydney asked softly, who didn't want to risk triggering an emotional change in her hormonal pregnant friend.

Rose shook her head. "Not even Lissa. Or Dimitri."

"And you are one hundred percent sure?"

"I mean, I haven't seen a doctor, but I bought two stick tests and they both said I was."

"OK, so here is what we are going to do. First—" The blonde never got to finish her sentence. She was interrupted by the brunette, who stood from her seat out of the blue. At first, Sydney thought that meant there were Strigoi about to attack and looked around worriedly but then she considered that the sun shone bright in the sky, and Rose's hand wasn't on her stake but on her mouth. It wasn't until Rose when running into the restroom, looking slightly green, that Sydney realized her friend was experiencing morning sickness.

"Are you okay?" asked the ex-Alchemist when her friend finally stopped throwing up.

"Well, I just puked my guts out. But besides that, never better," answered Rose, her every word dripping with sarcasm.

"Okay, okay. Maybe it was a dumb question to ask."

"I can't believe I saw the day when Sydney Ivashkov said something dumb. I need a picture." It appeared hormones made the brunette even more ironic.

"Shut up and let's go."

"Yes, ma'am." Rose stopped for a second and looked at her abandoned ice cream. "Is there any way we could take that home with us? It would be such a waste to leave it behind."

"You just disgorged!" Sydney wasn't all that surprised by her friend's appetite.

"I just what?"

"Barfed. Threw up. But okay, let's take it and make your weird, dhampir stomach happy."

"Thank you very much."

They took the ice cream and headed home, this time in Rose's car. Even after all that had happened, they were in a good mood. They momentarily forgot all their troubles while they ate the chocolate dessert and talked about Carly and Declan.

Sydney and Rose hadn't seen each other in over six months and had a lot to catch up. They could worry later.

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 **End of chapter two. I know it didn't happen much, but it was necessary. Show all your love with reviews, faves and follows. And remember, tell me what you thought about this chapter. I need at least eight reviews and I'll publish chapter three.**

 **Chaooo. Los amo (bye. I love you)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here it goes. Chapter three. Hope you like it. BTW thank you for the reviews, they make my day.**

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 **Spirit Baby**

 ** _Chapter 3_**

 ** _Words: 1448_**

"Hey, Eddie. I'm home!" Sydney announced herself, opening the door.

"Hey, Syd. What are you doing here so early? Did something happen or…" He stopped short. "Rose? What are you doing here?"

 _Oh,_ thought Sydney. _I hadn't thought about what we were going to tell them. When I suggested to Rose that we go to my house, I had forgotten about Eddie being there, too._

"Surprise!" said the brunette with fake cheerfulness while hugging her friend tightly. "I missed you guys and Lissa gave me the day off."

Eddie let go of Rose and proceeded to study her. He didn't buy for a second she was just there to say hello. Something was going on. "Rosemarie Hathaway Belikov, don't you dare lie to me. What's going on?"

Rose and Sydney exchanged a look, debating if it was wise telling him or not. Eddie, who was a trained guardian always observant, noticed that and looked hurt. After all they've been through, Rose was still keeping secrets.

"You know you can trust me with anything," he said, referring to the time he helped her and Lissa break into the Moroi prison, Tarasov, and broke Victor free.

"Yeah I know, but not even Dimitri knows and I feel kinda bad telling you before him. I mean, he might be a pain in the ass, but he's still my husband," she joked weakly, feeling nausea creeping up on her stomach again. "Syd, bathroom. Now."

Sydney quickly got what she was trying to say and pushed her into the bathroom, where the brunette threw up again. Eddie watched what happened both curious and worried, debating between asking what was going on (yet again) or just let it be. He had seen Rose acting even weirder before; in comparison this was nothing. He decided he would wait until his friend stopped puking to ask about it. And why did the blonde seemed so unfazed by it?

"Are you done?" Sydney almost sounded bored.

"Yes. And I guess there's no escaping the truth now, is it?" the brunette said looking at Eddie. He shook his head. "Well, then we should at least wait for Adrian to come. I don't want to tell the story twice."

They all agreed to that. Adrian was supposed to arrive in about twenty minutes, so the three of them decided to make themselves busy in the mean time. Rose went to greet Carly, who was watching TV in hers and Declan's room; Sydney went to the kitchen to prepare some coffee and Eddie spend the time texting his girlfriend Jill.

"Honey, I'm home!" shouted Adrian when he arrived to the house. He said that phrase every day, claiming it made him feel like he was in a movie

"Hey Ivashkov" Sydney wasn't the one greeting him today, but Rose.

"Little dhampir!" he exclaimed and then hugged her. They had left behind their rocky past and were really good friends. After a few years past their break up, Adrian had started calling the brunette by his old nickname, claiming it just wasn't the same calling her 'Rose'.

They small talked for a few minutes until the Moroi asked the dhampir about Dimitri and her smile faded, replaced by a worried look. She couldn't avoid the topic any longer.

 _At least this could work as a rehearsal_ , she thought, trying to be optimistic. Rose called for Eddie and Sydney, who came with three cups of coffee in hand—the brunette got only a glass of water because of the pregnancy. They sat around the living room and looked at the brunette expectantly.

"Declan and Carly are getting a new cousin," the Dhampir blurted out quickly.

"What?" both guys asked at the same time.

"There will be a mini-Rose running around very soon!"

Adrian didn't feel that surprised; he had learned to trust his wife's instinct a long time ago. Eddie, on the other hand, didn't move. Though it wasn't the pregnancy what had left him struck, but the image of another Rose causing trouble everywhere. He loved her to death and everything, but he had enough with her and Abe; he didn't need another troublemaker rule bending kid.

 _At least Belikov's genes would help_ , he thought.

"That's it? No reaction at all?"

They both stood up to hug her—again—but that wasn't the reaction Rose expected. The brunette was imagining something like 'OMG how is it possible?' or 'wow, it´s a miracle'; after all, she was carrying a miracle spirit baby, which defied every biological law ever. She didn't realize she was talking to two of the few people that knew about this new kind of Dhampir magical reproduction and, even more, lived with a spirit baby.

"But, wait. You said you haven't told Dimitri yet?" asked Eddie shocked; he had just processed what Rose had said before.

"No, as soon as I tested positive, I ran away from Court. I told Lissa and Dimitri some vague excuse about Sydney needing my help with something. I panicked!"

"But why here? Why did you think we, or Sage, could help?"

"I don't know. Maybe because Sydney is, like, super smart, and you have Declan. Call me crazy, but it makes perfect sense to me."

"I don't think there is any solution to your problem. You won't be able to hide your pregnancy forever. And unless you want to say the baby is not Dimitri's." Rose looked horrified at the idea. "You'll have to tell people about the effects of the spirit. The only thing you can do is hope that Lissa is going to be able to protect you and the baby from all the experiments and the questions when you go public."

They all looked at Rose worriedly; she looked like she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. And the tense silence that was created was just making it worse. Adrian decided he needed to intervene.

"Now that we cleared that up, Rose needs to go. Belikov deserves to know he's going to be a father," said Adrian. "Not that we don't want you here or anything, but….goodbye!"

He softly made her stand up and guided her to the door. The only problem was that the brunette wasn't ready to go yet, so she took both of his hands and held them in an unnatural angle above his back. "Not yet, Ivashkov."

"What could possibly be holding you here, little Dhampir? Quit stalling and go tell the news to your man."

"That's the problem! I don't know how!" Rose sit back in the armchair, defeated. Tears filled her eyes for the second time in the day. She wiped them away and whispered angrily. "Damn hormones."

"What do you mean? Belikov will be thrilled. I don't see what you are so worried about."

"The baby. It will bring questions about the spirit. And therefore, of Dimitri's time as a Strigoi. He absolutely hates talking about that time; it brings him so many bad memories. And also, how the hell am I suppose to tell Lissa I'm having a baby? She doesn't even know about Declan. She'll fucking hate me! What am I going to do?!" The brunette was rambling like crazy and the three other people present in the room didn't know what to do; strong, confident Rose was in tears, talking nonsense. Only Sydney remembered seeing her like this before: it was after she accidentally killed Victor and the spirit was driving her crazy. But there wasn't any magic to blame this time; pure hormones and stress.

"Calm down, Rose; it's okay. Rose, little dhampir, stop. Look at me." Rose did as she was told—for once. "Dimitri can handle a couple of questions. He adores you and would do anything for you and for the baby. Same goes for Lissa. She may be mad at first, but she'll forgive you. She will understand why you kept everything a secret, and before you know it, she'll be planning the baby shower you don't want. Don't worry; it's all going to be fine."

Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming herself. _He's right_ , she convinced herself. _Adrian is right_. She never thought she would those words but it was true. Both her best friend and her husband loved her and would do anything for her.

"If you want to, I could take a few days off work. I could go to Court with you; help you explain," Sydney offered and the brunette was touched. She knew how much the blonde hated going to Court, how uncomfortable it made her feel.

"I'll be okay. After all, I'm Rose Hathaway, aren't I?" she joked and the other three knew she was back to normal again.

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 **FIN. You know what the drill by now: reviews, faves and follows or I'll feel unloved and stop writing. And next chapter is going to be a really good one: Christian, Lissa and DIMITRI's reaction. ;) Bye**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here I am. I know I took my time with this, but I just writing Dimitri is such a challenge to me, don't know why. Also, I know a lot of people have huge expectations on his reaction, so I hope it's not disappointing. I really did my best.**

 **Last but not least, I know I said in the last chapter that this one would include both Lissa and Dimitri but I thought it was better to focus this chapter right here to Dimitri.**

 **Hope you like it**

Spirit Baby

Chapter 4

Dimitri knew his wife really well. He knew her even better than he knew himself. Since they had first met, when he was just her instructor, Dimitri had always been capable of reading her like an open book. It was an ability he always felt proud of having; after all, understanding how Rose Hathaway's mind worked is a really rare talent among both dhampirs and Morois. It made Rose crazy fifty percent of the time.

That's why Dimitri didn't buy it for a second when his wife came rambling off about the call she had received from Sydney and how she needed to go help her. Actually, the dhampir was surprised that Lissa had bought it. But then again, the queen was so full of work; she barely heard her friend's excuse. Plus, Rose was a really good liar. Dimitri just knew better. Her wife was lying, he just didn't know what about. And honestly, it concerned him. Rose rarely kept secrets from him. After all they have been through; they completely trusted each other with everything. So the only reason Rose was keeping stuff from her husband was because the secret was about him. And Dimitri didn't like that one bit.

…

Rose Hathaway arrived back at Court the next day at nightfall. And because vampire schedule is upside down, people were just starting to wake up. The dhampir walked to her apartment, only encountering a few unlucky guardians in their night shifts and some hangover Moroi that hadn't gone to bed yet. Tired of all the driving, she barely said hi to some of the dhampirs that greeted her excitedly (she was, after all, a celebrity or something like that) on her way home. She was already dreaming with her comfy bed, her favorite pillow and maybe even her husband's warmth next to her. Maybe not the last one. Rose had promised Sydney and the other she would break the news to Dimitri as soon as she came back, but she still wasn't sure how to do it. She needed some time to think things through, make a plan (funny, how she had never needed a plan for anything in her life before) and, until then, it was a hundred percent necessary that she avoided her husband. He would figure out something was up the minute they talked, that if he hadn't yet.

That's why Rose was hoping Dimitri would be either asleep or working when she arrived. Then, she could just go to sleep and her husband wouldn't bother her when he came from work/woke up. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. As soon as she introduced her key and opened the door, she saw a very awake Dimitri reading one of his Western novels, wearing just his pajama pants. He smiled lazily at her and tapped the spot next to him in the bed, inviting her to sit.

"Hey, I missed you. How was Sydney?"

"Hello to you too, comrade. She was fine, just some trouble with Declan and Adrian" Rose kissed his lips softly

"Trouble about what?" asked Dimitri curiously

"Nothing big. Adrian wanted to take Declan on a bonding father-son trip to…"

"Roza, stop. We both know you're lying. What really happened?"

"Don't know what you're talking about, that's all I know. Nothing happened, Grandpa"

"Rose, I know you. Don't shut me out. What's going on?" Dimitri was getting tired of the secrets; the last time his wife had kept an important secret from him was when she had started seeing ghosts. The dhampir just begged it wasn't something like that again; seeing her scream and fight the invisible creatures on that plane was one of the scariest moments of his life, "you know you can tell me everything."

"Yeah, I know. It's just… it's complicated"

He cupped her face with his hand "we've been through complicated and back. There's nothing that could scare me off or be that problematic. Just tell me"

She took a deep breath "I'm pregnant Dimitri"

Dimitri didn't know what to say; he was completely speechless. It wasn't possible; two Dhampirs couldn't have a baby. It was the first thing he had learned as a kid.

But, then again, he had also been taught that Strigoi couldn't come back to life. And he was the exception to that rule, so why not to this one too. It made sense, kind of.

"Comrade?" Asked Rose softly. He had zoned out for a long time

That's when he reacted and gave his wife a bear hug and a kiss in her temple "oh Roza"

Rose enjoyed his embrace for a few minutes before freeing herself from his arms and saying, incredulously "Don't 'Roza' me. I just told you life-changing information and all you say is that?!"

And then Dimitri did the most unexpected thing: he started to laugh. And not just a nervous little laugh, but full peals of laughter; which made Rose even more uneasy. She already felt anxious of telling him the news and when she finally pulls through, he starts laughing like she had said a joke. It made her want to cry.

Tears formed in her eyes as she stood up from the bed and reached for the apartment's door. It wasn't until then that her husband reacted and grabbed her wrist, turning her around and pulling her to him. He muttered a curse in Russian before he started speaking "that's not what I meant, Roza. Is not that I don't care. You just caught me by surprise; I was speechless. And about the laughter, I don't really know what happened to me. I guess I just imagined us as parents: you changing his diapers and me feeding him. Even you have to admit it sounds crazy. But that doesn't mean I'm not happy. The opposite actually, I'm thrilled. I love you, Roza, and there is nothing I would like most than forming a family with you. And even though it's scary, thinking I have to raise a child, considering my own father was a monster but, I already love this baby and I swear to you I'll protect and care for him the best I can."

Rose was crying by the time he finished his monologue and when she talked, it was between sobs "But people will doubt this is even your baby" honestly, it hadn't crossed his mind, not even once, that this child wasn't his. He had no doubt of his wife's love or her fidelity. "Besides, we will have to explain this to everyone. We are fucking celebrities carrying a fucking miracle baby! People will ask how it happened and, for everything to make sense, we'll have to talk about how you became a dhampir again; and, with that, about your Strigoi time. I know it hurts to even think about those months. Don't try to deny it"

"I don't care about that. I love you…I love both of you" he posed a hand in her stomach "we will figure out the rest along the way. This is all that matters now"

"Since when am I the responsible of this relationship; worrying about the future and stuff?" joked Rose "I'm not sure if I'm entirely comfortable with this switch"

"All the time spent with me has finally made an effect." He smiled warmly at her and kissed her softly "I love you, so much"

"I love you too. And thank you, comrade, for reacting just the way you should have. I don't know what I was worried about" then she remembered something "You said HIM. Why are you so sure it's going to be a boy and not a baby Rose?"

"I must possess some of Yeva's powers"

"Yeah, that must be it" she answered sarcastically and hugged him tightly "I don't care what it is; boy or girl. I'll love him or her no matter what"

"You know I'll do too. We are going to be great parents, you know"

"Yes, I think I do"

"There are so many things we need to figure out though. Starting on how to tell Lissa and Christian. They don't know about this, right? Nor about Declan?" Rose nodded "but that's something to worry about later. Right now, we should go to sleep; you look exhausted. Besides, pregnant woman need to rest properly"

And with that said, Dimitri placed one hand on her back and the other one on her legs, lifted his wife, bridal style, and carried her back to bed. He lied her down swiftly under the covers and joined her; Rose's head in his chest and his and in her waist.

"I can't believe it" he whispered. He had turned off the lights, so they lied in the dark "we are actually having a baby"

She smiled, even though Dimitri couldn't see her "yes we are"

 **Sorry for all the mushy romantic dialogs, it's not really my style, IDK what happened to me ;) Tell me, did you like it? Is Dimitri too OOC? Reviews, favorites, follows please! Los amo, byee**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! Thanks for all the love I receive in the reviews, you really make me happy. And I have good news: school is over for me! Here in Chile is summer and THERE ARE NO MORE CLASSES! And that means I'll probably update this story like all the time so YAY**

Spirit Baby

Chapter 5

"Now, what should we do?" Rose and Dimitri were having a 'Skype call conference' with Sydney, Adrian and Eddie; planning on how to tell Lissa and who else deserved to know

"I think maybe you should make dinner" the face Rose gave him made Adrian lose faith in his idea real quick "I mean, you could order take out or ask your husband to cook. Invite Lissa and Christian over and tell them when their eating dessert"

"Why dessert?" Asked Eddie

"It's a scientific fact that everything is easier and happier when eating sweets; especially if it involves chocolate" the spirit user answered seriously and Rose nodded in agreement "like that phrase in Spanish says: 'a full stomach makes for a happy heart', is it, Sydney?"

"Yes" his wife answered surprised "'guatita llena, corazón contento' (A/N: the official phrase is 'barriga llena, corazón contento' but my country is special, so we say it differently) I can't believe you actually listened when I talked to the kids about that"

"I'm offended. I always listen to you. Or like ninety percent of the time" he grabbed her face in his hands and leaned closer to kiss her when a loud cough interrupted them

"You two are really sweet and everything but we have some serious problems here, so if you could take your hands off each other and leave them like that, it would be great" of course, it was Rose who killed the moment

"Says the pregnant one" Adrian quickly shot back

Eddie snorted and even though Sydney punched her husband's arm lightly, she laughed too. Rose stuck her tongue out to the camera and was about to shoot back when Dimitri took her hand tightly into his and said:

"Let's focus on the baby" they all nodded and he continued "So, is there someone here at Court that needs to know, besides Lissa and Christian?"

"You could invite Jill" suggested the Ivashkov's guardian "I know she already knows, but she would appreciated if you told her about the baby personally"

A detail none of them had thought about when Rose had told them about the pregnancy was that Adrian was bonded to Jill and, therefore, she knew about it too. Not that anyone was really worried about that; everyone trusted the princess completely. But still, it tasted bitter to Rose when she became aware of that fact; it meant another person that knew about the baby before her best friend.

"Sonya?" Asked Adrian

The parents to be looked at each other. Should they tell Sonya and Mikhail? They were their friends and completely trustable but Sonya was also the official leader of the spirit research project. And what's more interesting than a miracle baby; she would probably ask for a million exams and experiments. They couldn't risk it.

"No" they said at unison

"Ok. Have you told your parents?" Asked Sydney

"We called my mother and sisters before talking to you guys. They were confused at first but when we explained, they were thrilled"

"You should have seen them" said Rose laughing "the four of them screaming in Russian. It was hilarious"

"And Viktoria was so happy her baby is going to have a cousin of his same age"

"And your parents Rose?"

"I called my mom and Abe earlier. Told them to come visit soon if they have the chance. I want to tell them in person if I can"

"So everything is solved. You just need to tell my cousin now" said Adrian

"Mmhm" the pregnant Dhampir nodded

They talked for a few more minutes about Rose's morning sickness and Sydney's job at the museum before saying 'goodbye' and 'good luck' and ending the Skype call. And while the residents of the Ivashkov family went to sleep right after-they were, after all, running by human schedule-, the two Dhampirs at Court had a long list of things to do; they're day was far from over.

Dimitri was in charge of preparing dinner; Adrian wasn't kidding before, and buying a cake for dessert (Rose couldn't be trusted when it came to chocolate). Meanwhile, his wife would be working her shift as the queen's guardian; Dimitri had asked her to call sick but Rose had refused. She was going to miss God knows how many months when her pregnancy was too advanced; she wanted to miss as few days as possible to work.

The hours past and the time for dinner came. Dimitri was wearing a dark suit (no tie, though) and Rose an emerald green dress with one strap, her hair falling on her bare shoulder. Normally, they wouldn't bother with formal clothes and everything, but it was definitely an occasion worth the dress up, so why not?

Their guests arrived just on time. Christian, also in a suit, Jill in a pink baby pink dress and Lissa dressed in a red strapless gown that reminded Rose of Jessica Rabbit. With them, also came two guardians in the standard uniform; the queen apologized for that. "It's procedure" she said "I know you wanted to talk privately but we'll make it work. There's nothing I can do about it" And even thought, the brunette was slightly annoyed by the fact that she wouldn't be able to talk to her best friend alone, she knew Lissa's safety was what mattered most. 'They come first' after all. At last, they decided to locate the guardians outside the door of the apartment; close enough to guard Lissa but far enough to not hear their conversation.

They sat in the dining table a bit too close to each other; Dimitri's and Rose's apartment was tiny, just enough space for the both of them, and that included their table. That didn't matter to them, though. The five friends chatted and joked during the whole meal; thanks to all their occupations, they hadn't talked much to each other on the last couple of months, so it was a great occasion to catch up.

And then the dessert came and Rose's palms started sweating. She didn't know why it was such a big deal telling Lissa; even when she told Dimitri she didn't feel that nervous. Maybe it was because her husband was aware of Declan's real heritage, while her best friend didn't. Whatever the reason was, it made the brunette stutter as Dimitri cut the cake.

"So…so the reason we invited you here is because we…we have news" both Jill and the other Dhampir smiled at her encouragingly "The thing is…something happened"

"We already deduced that Rose" interrupted Christian sarcastically "there wouldn't be any news if nothing had happened"

"Shut up Ozzera"

"What happened? Is something wrong?" asked Lissa worriedly

"Don't worry. These aren't bad news" Dimitri calmed her

"No, not at all. It's just… I don't want you to be mad at me Liss. Promise me you won't get mad at me. Or that at least you'll hear me out before storming furiously out of here"

"What did you do?"

"Promise me first"

Lissa was scared. What had happened that had Rose so nervous? And why would she get mad? "I…I promise I guess"

The Dhampir didn't look happy of her friend's uncertainty, but didn't push it "So, you love me right?"

The queen nodded, confused. "You know I do. You're my best friend"

"You love a lot?" another nod "so much that you wouldn't mind having another Rose around?"

"Where are you getting at Rose?"

"That's what going to happen; there is going to be another Rose, or maybe another comrade, here in a few months. We are having a baby"

"What?" asked Lissa and Christian at the same time, "How?"

"You know, when mommy loves daddy very very much…"

"Not what I was asking and you know that" the queen was extremely serious; she didn't feel up to her friend's jokes and sarcasm "Two Dhampirs can't have kids together, so what are you saying?"

Slowly and careful of leaving Declan out of it, Rose and Dimitri explained to them their theory, how the spirit had affected their fertility. The brunette told her friends about the pregnancy tests she took and how all of them were positive and the fact that she had been nauseas and dizzy for the last few days. The couple told them about their worries of what would people think and the experiments they would like to perform, and asked them not to tell anyone, at least for now. Once they finished talking, the five fell in an uncomfortable silence; not even Christian could come with a witty comeback.

"Does someone else know about this?" Lissa finally asked

"My family. And Adrian, Sydney and Eddie"

With that, Lissa broke down. She looked at everyone in the room, stood up, and went out the door (guardians in tail) with a simple 'excuse me'. Immediately, both Rose and Christian raised themselves from their chairs and murmured "shit". They had an intense stare battle until the latter sat down, defeated, and the Dhampir ran after her best friend.

 **The end. OMG my first cliffhanger (or something like that). Did you like it? Reviews, faves, follows, please. I need at least TEN reviews to continue (what can I say, I need to increase my ego) Chao**


	6. Chapter 6

**I want to start this chapter by saying how much I love you all; even thought we didn't reach the ten reviews I expected. I want to specially thank luciinwaters, Vinaa Belikova and jessica. dangerfield. 9 You always tell me your reviews and I am so thankful for that. You make me happy. That's it. Enjoy!**

 **BTW Vinaa Belikova: No, Rose is not going to tell Lissa about Declan, it's not her secret to tell (as you'll see when you read this chapter)**

 **And luciiwaters (I know you asked this a long time ago but better late than never): I'm not planning on switching POV's. I like writing in no one's point of view (third person)**

Spirit Baby

Chapter 6

Rose took out her heels and threw them to them living room, not stopping to see where they fell. She ran, bare foot, out of the apartment and looked around for her best friend. Luckily for her, Lissa didn't get far. The Moroi was wearing ridiculously high pomps, specially considering her height, and, unlike Rose, she wasn't trained to run (Thanks comrade, thought the dhampir). The blonde was sitting in a bench only a few meters (A/N: I know in USA they use feet instead of meters, but I don't really know/understand that kind of measurements) away from her friend's house, crying her eyes out. One of her guardians was kneeling in front of her, trying to comfort her while the other one was scanning the perimeter; watching out for any kind of threats. And apparently, the brunette was one now.

As soon as he saw Rose, his position changed from defensive to offensive. The brunette couldn't believe it; this guy was the same that had shared his doughnuts with her in the morning. She was the head of the queen's guard, so technically, Rose was his boss and he still looked ready to knock her if necessary. One part of the pregnant dhampir actually felt proud; it made her feel like she had chosen good guardians to take care of her best friend after all. However, the majority of her was feeling rather annoyed; she needed to clear thing out with Lissa!

"Ben, Nat, I need to talk to the queen privately. Now" she said, her bitch face on

"I'm sorry Guardian Hathaway, but the queen doesn't wish to talk to you right now. I'm going to ask you to go" Nat, a female guardian only a few years older than Rose herself, told her

"Well, I don't care. I need to talk to you Lissa. I need to explain. Please" her voice broke "you promised you wouldn't be mad"

"Hathaway, please leave. Queen Vasilissa wishes to be alone. I don't care who you are, you need to respect her orders" said Ben, harshly

"But…"

"Thank you so much, for defending me so bravely" said Lissa suddenly; her eyes full of tears and her make up a mess "but Rose is right; we do need to talk. Benjamin and Natalia, please leave us"

"But we can't leave you. This is our shift, our responsabi…"

"Cut the crap, Ben. I'm her guardian too, you know? I'll cover for you and escort her to her room later. Just, go away, we need to talk"

The two Dhampirs looked at each other in search of an answer and after a few seconds, they finally decided to leave the best friends alone; if both of their bosses were telling them to go away, they didn't have any option. They quickly said good bye and the two girls were left alone. Rose sat besides Lissa and took her hand.

"You know, even without the bond, I can read you pretty well. I know you are upset because I told Sydney before you; I know you hate it that I didn't come running to you as soon as my period didn't arrive"

"If you know all of that, then tell me: why didn't you? Why did you lie and said you needed to help Sydney when it was really you who needed help. You're supposed to be my best friend, why don't you act like it?" cried the queen. She knew she was being selfish but didn't care anymore

"I got scared, OK?" screamed Rose. She was so tired of excusing herself; she brunette just wanted her friend to support her "You have been so busy lately and I didn't want to put you in an awkward position where you'd have to choose between me and the royalty. Sydney has kids, she knows about the whole pregnancy thing. I thought she would get it"

"And I wouldn't?!" now Lissa was pissed too "So what if I'm busy?! I always have time for my best friend. And you know what: you were the one that nominated me for this job in the first place; it's your fault that you feel like you can't talk to me"

"That's not what I'm saying! I know I can talk to you, don't be an idiot. I just…I know you have to tell everyone about this, it's your job, for the sake of your people, and I needed, just for a moment, to tell someone that wasn't involved in this whole Moroi magic mess" Rose was careful not to mention Declan in her monologue; she knew it would make her argument even more convincing but she couldn't betray Sydney and Adrian (not to mention Neil and Olive) like that. That wasn't her secret to tell. "Also, I do NOT appreciate that you blame me for you being queen. You know I only suggested it so we could find Tatiana's killer. We have talked about this, years ago. I thought you got it!"

"I thought I did too. But it appears I'm not over it yet. And I'm going to be completely honest with you: I don't like it that you basically decided my future. You tell me how I feel all the time and I don't like that. That's what got us in this problem in the first place; you thinking I wouldn't get it"

"Me? I am the one deciding your future?" shouted the brunette in a sarcastic way, although tears were running through her cheeks too"My life has always orbited around what you do, your decisions. So, I'm sorry if I did something for my own sake for once. It's my baby, I decided it would be better to tell Sydney first and that doesn't make you my best friend any less. I don't get why you are so mad!"

"I DON'T KNOW! I feel hurt, I guess. It hurt that you didn't think about me, your best friend. I felt abandoned"

"But that's the thing; it's not about you this time. Just like it wasn't when I left to Russia. What's going on it's bigger than you. It's about me and Dimitri and our unborn child. And I would really like it if you got that and supported me like a friend is supposed to"

"Like a friend is supposed to, uh?" she asked bitterly before standing up and walking away indignantly. It didn't last much because a few seconds later, Rose came behind her and took her by the wrist

"C'mon. You know what I meant" she said softly

"I don't want to hear it. I just want to go to my room" she started walking again but the brunette stopped her. Again

"Wait for me, queen Vasilissa. You can't walk around without any guardians; it's late" sarcasm dripped from her every word, but the blonde didn't seem to notice. They both headed to Lissa's and Christian's room, in complete silence; it looked like a typical Moroi-Dhampir relationship. When they arrived, they didn't even look at each other's faces and said:

"Good night, queen Vasilissa"

"You may go, Guardian Hathaway"

The Dhampirs nearby almost choked when they heard this. It was of common knowledge the relationship between the ruler of the vampires and the head of her guard. Seeing them treat each other with complete coldness was shocking.

Lissa entered to her room and closed the door while Rose turned and went back to her apartment, silent tears falling down her face. She normally wasn't much of a crier and she hated both Lissa and her hormones for making her so emotional. It was like the fourth time she cried in three days, it definitely wasn't normal. When she came back, she found Christian, Lissa and Dimitri in the exact same position they were when she had left. The brunette immediately walked to her husband and hugged him; in need of comfort. He stroked her hair and murmured some words in Russian she didn't completely understand but that calm her anyway. The visitors were in complete silence.

"So I take it didn't go well with Liss?" Christian asked after a while, awkwardly

"What do you think?" Rose laughed bitterly

"She'll come around before you know. Don't worry" Jill said

"I hope so. We barely ever fight. I don't have experience with all this"

"She will. You'll see" both girls smiled "and by the way, I didn't get the chance to tell you: congratulations!"

Jill hugged the brunette tightly and then Christian proceeded to do the same. "I'm sorry for everything that happened with Lissa; I'll try to talk some sense into her. But I'm really happy for you Rose"

"Thank you Ozzera. I appreciate it"

 **FIN.**

 **Like it? Hate it? Tell me all about it. Love ya**


	7. Chapter 7

**Helloo! I'm back and improved. Thank you RomitriIsMyMaximumMortalFlaw for checking my chapter, you helped me so much. And also thanks to all the reviews, faves and follows I got. You make me happy.**

Spirit Baby

Chapter 7

A week had passed and Rose Hathaway was still fighting with her best friend. Everyone had thought their feud would be over the next day; nobody thought it could last this long. The brunette wanted to have her friend back. She missed talking to her and laughing with her; she wanted to comment on her small growing baby bump and think baby names with her. Rose wanted to reconcile with her best friend so bad but couldn't seem to accomplish her goal; though it wasn't for lack of trying.

It had been two days since their big fight and Rose felt terrible; she felt guilty just by looking at her friend's face and thanks to her working as Lissa's guardian, she couldn't just avoid her. They, the blonde and her two escorts (the brunette and other guardian), were walking towards a fancy restaurant on Court were the Queen was meeting some important royal Moroi for business. They walked silently, the tension slowly building up, until Rose couldn't handle it anymore and exploded.

"Hey Liss, can we talk please?" She said, walking to her; guardians usually stayed a few feet behind their Moroi "I'm so sorry for what I said to you the other day. It came out completely wrong; you know that's not what I meant."

"So what did you mean when you said I was acti—" She stopped herself and took a deep breath. "I know you didn't. But it hurt anyway. I think I just need a little time to think and calm down. And I want to ask you not to pressure me while I do it, Rose. I simply need some space."

 _A little space from me,_ Rose thought bitterly.

She was speechless; Lissa never stayed mad at her. She really thought the blonde was going to forgive her. She was sad. She was really expecting to have her best friend back, but at the same time, Rose was angry. She felt angry at Lissa for holding a grudge against her. Admittedly, she had said some mean things to her and felt awful for it, but she had apologized. Lissa didn't have any right to be mad at her just because she didn't tell her first. It was her baby after all, she could choose whoever she wanted to tell first. Her fists curled themselves as she walked; her feet hit the ground so hard the other guardian wondered if it hurt.

 _Calm down,_ Rose thought to herself. _She's sad and angry and need time, that's understandable. There's so good in getting angry too; you'll just make things worse._

….

Vasilisa Dragomir-Ozera was having a bad day. A bad week to be specific. Since her fight with Rose, everything just seemed to go the wrong way. Royal Moroi were pressuring her to do something about the lack of guardians; Christian was on her ass about forgiving her best friend; and above everything she also had the stress of the incoming spirit baby.

Lissa was about to go crazy. She wanted to rest and the other Moroi to understand her, but the thing she wanted the most was her best friend. She could always calm her when she was in a bad place; it didn't matter if it was spirit induced or just stress from work. But she was still a little mad at her and she wanted to make Rose suffer; make her feel just like she felt. It was childish, Lissa knew it, but she wanted Rose to feel what it was like to miss your best friend, to feel like you're losing her for good. That's how the blonde had felt the last few months when she had barely talked to Rose, each one too involved in their work. And how she felt when she had heard the brunette had told Sydney before her. Replaced.

So she decided she wouldn't talk to Rose in at least two weeks. But it was hard. Lissa was used to feeling her friend's presence all the time; even when they didn't talk, just smiling at her made her feel better. This ice cold wall that stood between them was something foreign and, if Lissa was being honest, it really sucked. It got worse, and truly unbearable, ten days after the fight.

The Queen had just gotten out of meeting with some royal Moroi about the dhampir situation and felt completely drained of energy. She just wanted to go home and sleep and cuddle with Christian. Unfortunately for her, on her way home, two non-royal Moroi stopped her and started questioning her about her work and her personal life.

"Is it true that you're pregnant?"

"Are you going to include non-royalty in your meetings?"

"Are you fighting with guardian Hathaway?"

The list went on and on. It was so overwhelming it made Lissa cringe. She tried to answer as many questions as she could with a smile; then excused herself and ran home as fast as she could. She wasn't going to risk running into more people. The Queen walked into her house and called for her husband, just to find a Post It saying "went to work with Mia on a new strategy to teach defensive magic. Be back soon. Love ya".

 _Great,_ she thought. _No_ husband, no friends. _Just_ _great._ Lissa sat on her couch angrily, tears of rage and frustration running down her cheeks. She was so done with not talking to Rose; she wasn't even mad at her anymore. The blonde was only being silly and childish, not queen-like at all. So Vasilisa stood from her couch and marched out the door, her guardians following her, confused. She walked directly to the best friend's apartment. She soon arrived -their houses were only a few blocks away- and with the key Rose had given her, the blonde stormed into the house. Lissa found her friend lying on the couch, playing in her cell phone something that looked suspiciously like _Candy Crush_ , and eating watermelon, in her pajamas.

"Liss..? What are you doing here?" Rose asked, frowning in confusion. She was definitely not expecting company. "I've had a really crappy week and I miss my best friend. I'm sorry I didn't want to forgive you. I needed some time to think but I also wanted to make you feel how I felt. It was like you were…"

"Like you were losing your best friend" Rose agreed, finishing her sentence for her. Lissa didn't have to tell her; she knew what she felt. She always did. "That's why you freaked out so much when I told you were being a bad friend. Especially after I told Sydney before I told you."

"I am so sorry. I was wrong; it is totally your decision who to tell. I missed you so much, Rose."

"And what makes you think I don't need some time to think, too?" asked the brunette seriously.

"Oh. That's….ok. I mean…I—" she stopped short when she saw Rose snickering. "You're playing with me!" she exclaimed.

"That's because you're so easy to fool." She hugged the blonde. "I missed you, too, Liss."

They clung to each other for a long time; neither of them wanting to let go. Until Lissa did. "Now, back to business: we need to host you a baby shower."

Rose laughed, thinking of what Adrian had said before. "Calm down, Queen. One step at the time."

 **FIN. I admit it's not my best chapter. I'll try harder next time. Love it? Hate it? Please let me know. CHAOO**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry I took so long to update. It won't happen again, I promise. Thank you all who reviewed and RomitriIsMyMaximumMortalFlaw for helping me correct my mistakes.**

* * *

Spirit Baby

Chapter 8

The weeks past as if nothing had happened. Life at Court continued as normal. Well, almost. Thanks to Rose and Dimitri's paranoia, none of their friends (the ones who knew about the baby, obviously) talked about what was going on, even if they were alone. It was like it wasn't happening. Rose continued working and cracking awful jokes; Christian still argued with her all the time and worked on his fire magic; and Lissa was still so busy she barely had time to sleep. The baby didn't stop the soon-to-be parents from having sex, either—though Dimitri was a bit worried at first.

Even though most things remained the same, some changes were inevitable— mainly Rose's clothes. With approximately three months of pregnancy, the baby bump was starting to show. In other words, the Dhampir's clothes were now much tighter every day. She asked Lissa for a bigger uniform and became a fan of men's sweatshirts; she made Dimitri buy some just so she could steal them from him.

The morning sickness were also a big issue, especially when Rose was at work. The [capitalize] excuse of the stomach bug was getting too old, so she tried as hard as she could to hide her desperate need for bathroom trips. Fortunately, after a lot of research on Lissa's and some personal experience from Sydney, she managed to somehow control it by eating a lot of lemon sorbet and crackers. And that led to change number three: Dimitri's sleeping habits. With the pregnancy came the cravings, meaning Rose asked her husband to go buy her all types of bizarre food all the time. Including random hours of the night. Thankfully, Dimitri had always been a light sleeper and complied her every demand.

…..

Three months had passed since they discovered Rose was pregnant, and queen Vasilisa was beginning to worry about her best friend. Between her denial and the fact that she couldn't just visit a gynecologist on Court (for obvious reasons), Rose had yet to get the baby checked out. What if something was wrong with the baby or the mother? She needed to be sure both of them were safe and healthy. And that's what she told Dimitri.

"We need to convince her to visit a doctor. Right away."

Lissa had asked Dimitri to meet her at her compound one day when [add in] Rose was helping Christian and Mia with their training.

"I completely agree. But you know Rose as well as I do; she won't want to go. She will claim your safety is her first priority and that there's no way she's missing work."

"And that's why I didn't call her here. I called you. We need to find a way to take her."

They both considered their options. Lissa could tell her friend that they needed to meet a Moroi outside Court and drag her to a clinic instead. But that would attract too much attention and suspicion. After all, the Queen couldn't go anywhere without at least three Dhampirs. Maybe Dimitri could slip a sleeping pill in Rose's food and take her while she was unconscious. They quickly dismissed that thought too; the brunette would murder them and the drug could be bad for the baby. Another thing they needed to check with was the doctor. At the end they decided they needed and expert planner. They had to call Sydney.

Lissa wasn't too happy about involving the ex-Alchemist. Even though she wasn't mad at Rose anymore, thinking about Sydney made her drown in jealousy. Rose had assured her no one could ever take her 'best friend' title away from her, but Lissa couldn't help but feel insecure when she heard the brunette talking with the human over the phone; chatting and laughing while the Queen worked nonstop. But she knew calling Sydney was the best thing for her friend; it was a sacrifice she was willing to make. For Rose and the baby. They decided they would call Sydney in a couple of hours (she was on human schedule after all) while Rose slept.

The hours passed and Dimitri found himself quietly sneaking out of his own house, careful of not waking his wife. He quickly wrote a note to Rose saying he was talking to Viktoria over the phone and that she shouldn't worry. He hated lying to his Roza but for his little baby boy (because he was completely sure it was going to be a boy) he'd do anything. He met with Lissa and without wasting any time, they dialed Sydney's number and put the cell phone on speaker.

"Hello, Dimitri," the ex-Alchemist answered the phone.

"Hey, Sydney. I'm here with Lissa. Are you busy? We need your help with something."

"I'm free; I'm at my lunch break. Should I sit down? The last time someone needed my help, she was pregnant with a miracle baby," Sydney joked.

"Nobody is pregnant, thank God. Well, nobody else. Though this is about Rose and the baby too," said Lissa.

They told her what was worrying them and asked her for a solution. Sydney totally agreed and said Rose should go get checked at soon as possible. She also gave them an easy plan to achieve their mission. She said it so quick; didn't even need time to think about it, and made both Dimitri and Lissa feel idiotic.

"I'll call her and tell her I need her here for an emergency. And since I helped her with the baby problem before, she won't be able to say no. You, Dimitri, will offer to drive her here and she'll be in such a hurry she won't argue with you. I'm assuming you won't want to miss it. I'll take you both to my gynecologist here." Sydney paused for a second, as if she had forgotten something. "Oh, Lissa, I know you want to be there too. But you'll draw way too much attention. I suppose we could make it work if-"

"I know," Lissa cut in, not needing to be reminded. "We had thought about that before and I know I can't go. Besides, I have to go visit Nico ( **A/N: the kid Rose and Lissa went to see in chapter 2)** at Saint Vladimir. He has just discovered he's a spirit user and I promised I would help him."

Lissa was sad she was going to miss such an important step in her friend's pregnancy, but there was nothing she could do about it. She just hoped next time she'd be able to stand right by Rose's side at the doctor's office. Besides, her excuse for not going this time was perfectly sound; helping a young Moroi wasn't that bad either.

"So, when do you want to do this? I need to set an appointment with Dr. Friar. ( **A/N: Any GMW fans?** )"

"In two days?" the guardian offered.

They all agreed to that and after saying goodbye, they hung up the phone. Then, Dimitri and Lissa went back to their respective beds. After all, it was the middle of the night. And now that they had made a plan and solved their problem, they could sleep in peace.

…..

Forty-eight hours later, Dimitri was reading one of his cowboy novels Rose liked to make fun of so much, when his wife came rushing past the living room and into the bedroom. There, she stuffed some clothes, her tooth brush, car keys, and cell phone in a backpack.

"Sydney called— says it's an emergency. I gotta go— bye." She leaned toward Dimitri to give him a goodbye kiss but he stood up, effectively dodging her lips.

"I'll go with you," he said as smoothly as possible.

"You know, I understood that behavior when I was seventeen, but now I'm twenty-five. I'm perfectly capable of driving the car myself."

"Okay, okay, you can drive. I just want to be with you. Besides, Christian gave me the day off. I'll be bored without you, Roza."

"Okay, c'mon. Pack your stuff quickly, or I'll go without you."

Luckily, Dimitri had already packed a bag with his clothes and more, so all he had to do was get the backpack from under the bed and wait a couple of extra seconds, so it was believable. Then, they went downstairs and got into the car. Nobody bothered them when they got to the gates of Court. People knew that if they were going away was because they had a good reason and even if they didn't, that nobody would be able to stop them of leaving anyway.

It was a two hour drive in which they: argued about the radio (Dimitri wanted some old country songs while Rose wanted to hear the top 50); ate chocolate (mostly the brunette); and talked baby names. Surprisingly, they haven't even thought about it, and it was proving to be a real challenge. When they arrived to Sydney's home, they still hadn't decided anything.

"Hey! What's the emergency?" asked Rose when she saw the blonde, who was waiting for them outside the house.

"You'll see, come on. We need to go somewhere. Follow me." She called Adrian's name and walked to her car. The whole family —husband, kids, and Eddie — emerged from the house and followed her.

"What the hell?" Rose exclaimed, more to herself, and walked to her own car.

They drove around town for another ten minutes before arriving at a huge hospital. Sydney got out of the car and, without even checking if the rest of the group was following her, she starting marching towards the western entrance.

Rose grabbed her by the wrist, forcing her to stop. "What is going on, Syd? Seriously."

"We are going to see a doctor. You need to see if the baby is healthy. And before you try to argue with me, you can't run off. You've already driven for two hours. Don't waste it."

Rose debated if she should get mad. Sydney, Dimitri, and who knows who else, had lied to her to bring her there. But they were thinking about what was best for her and the baby. "Okay, let's go," she said after a few seconds.

They went upstairs and to the waiting room. They didn't even get to sit before they called 'Rosemarie Hathaway, Dr. Friar is waiting for you'. It was decided that only Rose and Dimitri would go in to see the doctor alone while the rest of them waited outside. The couple quickly hurried after the nurse to see the gynecologist.

The room they entered was simple; white, with a stretcher, a chair in the corner, and an ultrasound machine. Dr. Friar, a blonde man not older than thirty, waited inside.

"Hello, you must be Rosemarie and Dimitri, Sydney's friends. I'm Dr. Friar," he greeted. "Please, Rose, lie in the bed and lift your shirt up and away from your belly."

She did as she was told while her husband sat next to her and took her hand. The doctor placed some of the blue gel in the Dhampir's stomach and rubbed the transducer all around to speed the gel. Soon enough, they started to see images forming in the computer. The soon-to-be parents watched amazed as the doctor showed them the baby's head and his legs. They couldn't believe that this was actually happening.

"Okay, so you're thirteen weeks pregnant. The baby is completely healthy and even though it's still early, we can see if it is going to be a boy or a girl. Do you want to know?" asked Dr. Friar.

Dimitri and Rose looked excitedly at each other.

"Of course we do, Doctor. What it is?" Rose asked eagerly.

"Your baby is a…"

* * *

 **Fin. Liked it? Do you think is going to be a girl or a boy? Tell me in the reviews.**

 **QUESTION: RomitriIsMyMaximumMortalFlaw told me she would like to know what happened with the kid in San Vlad with the spirit-like powers Lissa and Rose visited in chapter 2. Would you too? I'm thinking maybe writing something about it (completely separated from this story)**

 **Chao. Love you all! (DON'T FORGET to review, fave and follow)**


	9. Chapter 9

***Insert Tyra Banks' voice* Well hello my beautiful readers (I've been watching way too much ANTM). Here we are again. Chapter 9. And I'm so happy for all the positive feedback this fanfic has been receiving, it's amazing! I felt especially touched by Crystal x (Guest) review and I want to tell you thank you so much, you made my day with that comment.**

 **Betareader: RomitriIsMyMaximumMortalFlaw**

 **Now, I'll leave you to what you came to do:**

Chapter 9

"Your baby is a boy!"

Rose and Dimitri looked at each other with shock. They were having a baby boy! It felt more real every minute; it wasn't just an abstract idea anymore.

"I told you, Roza," said Dimitri to his wife. "We are having a boy. Oh, Roza, thank you so much."

"Are you crying, Comrade?" asked Rose, but her eyes were filled with tears, too

It was beautiful scene; Rose lying on the bed with her hands on her belly and Dimitri looking down at her, his eyes reflecting all his love for her.

Dr. Friar hated to break a moment.

"You just finished the first trimester without problem and that's good. It's the trickiest. The first three months is when most cases of natural miscarriage happen. But even if everything is okay now, you need to come for your checkups once in a while. Also, I'll prescribe you some prenatal vitamins you should start taking. You're never too safe when a baby is involved. I'll see you in a couple of months?" They nodded. "And if you have any emergency—bleeding, pain or just a simple question—call me. Any questions for me?"

Rose spoke up. "I have a question, doctor. When will my baby bump really be visible? For now, I can hide it with baggy clothes."

"It always depends on the baby's size but most cases the third month is when you start showing, just like you now. However, it is in the fourth or fifth month when most pregnant women stop being able of hiding their pregnancy. You have some weeks until you need to tell the person you are hiding from." He winked at her and laughed. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me."

Rose stiffened when Dr. Friar mentioned the hiding. Dimitri placed his arm around his wife's shoulder when he noticed. And whispered everything would be fine in her hear and she relaxes; she wanted to believe him so badly.

"Thank you, doctor," he said.

The brunette wiped the blue gel from her belly with a paper towel Dr. Friar handed her. Then, the couple thanked the doctor and left the room. Outside, Eddie, Sydney, Adrian, and the two kids waited eagerly. As soon as they saw the two Dhampir, they all started asking them questions simultaneously.

"What did the doctor say?"

"Is the baby okay?"

"Is it just one?"

"When will you know the gender?"

"Calm down, please," said Dimitri, his hands extended before him, asking them to stop. "The doctor said everything is fine; both Rose and the baby are completely healthy. It is just one and Dr. Friar already told us the gender. It's a boy."

"Yaay!" exclaimed Declan in that moment. He was listening quietly to the conversation the adults were having about his cousin and when they said it was going to be a boy, he couldn't help but scream of joy. He had always wanted a brother and when his mom had had Carly, he was so disappointed; this was his chance. "Will I be able to play with him, Aunt Rose?"

"Of course you will."

The mood of the group was cheerful; everyone was happy for Dimitri and Rose. They decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate. There was a big line to enter the restaurant and ask for a table but the receptionist in charge of said line thought Adrian was so hot (Rose offered to kill the girl for Sydney but she rejected it) and charming, she managed to find them a table pretty quick. Sitting around the table, they ordered every type of cheesecakes they could find and toasted with soda.

"To Jet Junior," Adrian declared, raising his glass.

They all laughed. "To Jet Junior!"

…

They left the restaurant several hours later, with a lot of extra pieces of cheesecake in their stomach and the cheerful mood still on. The sun had already come down and the moon and stars shone bright in the sky. It was really late, especially for Carly and Declan; the first one was soundly asleep in her mother's arm and the latter was fighting his closing eyes.

The parking lot of the Cheesecake Factory was completely deserted. There were a few cars here and there but no other people around them. They were talking and walking calmly towards the car when Eddie, Dimitri, Rose stopped short, simultaneously, and took their stakes out of their pockets. Seconds later five Strigoi jumped on them; specifically to the two Moroi and their children.

The three grown up Dhampir immediately jumped into action; Eddie and Dimitri lunged towards the Strigoi while Rose covered Sydney, Adrian, and the two kids.

"Go to the car and lock yourself in. Don't come out until we tell you to and don't make any sounds. And if more Strigoi appear, start driving and leave as behind," the brunette said seriously.

The family did as they were told and ran as fast as they could to their car. It wasn't until Rose saw them get into the vehicle in relative safeness that she turned to the fight. Dimitri was fighting with two of them and Eddie with the remaining three. The brunette decided to go help her friend rather than her husband; he looked more distressed. With her stake in her hand, she jogged silently to where one of the Strigoi was and pierced his heart with the weapon from behind. The monster hadn't seen her coming; he was clearly young. That, however, wasn't the case with the other ones.

One of the Strigoi attaching Eddie turned to her and moved to kick her in the head. Rose almost didn't see him; it was so fast, but thankfully she was able to dodge the kick effectively. She raised her stake and tried to impale him; not aiming at the heart—the Strigoi made sure to protect it— [uses dashes rather than commas] but the arms. The enchanted silver from the stake would not kill him but it could make him weaker and that was Rose's goal. She did it and stabbed him in his left arm, making him growl in pain. He pushed her to the floor so hard the brunette heard a crack when her head hit the floor and the world spin for a second. She recovered quickly though and she stood up, fighting the dizziness, and kicked the Strigoi in the gut and then in the injured arm. He looked at his hurt limb just for a second, but that was all the time Rose needed to end him; the stake passed through his heart easily.

Then, she turned to see how their fellow Dhampir were coping. Eddie had already finished his attacker and was currently helping Dimitri kill the second Strigoi. Together, they quickly executed the last of them. They seemed okay; Eddie had cuts and bruises everywhere and his shirt was torn, and Dimitri was bleeding from a cut in his cheek, but nothing to serious.

"Roza, are you okay?" asked her husband with concern. "Your head is bleeding."

She touched the back of her head, surprised. When she looked at her hand, it was, in fact, stained with blood. "It's nothing. I'm fine," she said and started walking towards the two Dhampir but she stumbled and would have fallen if Dimitri hadn't caught her in time.

"You are obviously not fine, Rose. I think you have a concussion," stated Eddie. "Should we take you to a hospital? Or you two could drive to Court right away, so the doctor there can see you?"

Rose shifted uneasily in Dimitri´s arms, who was carrying her bridal style. She murmured something the two Dhampirs didn't catch; she was so weak she could barely stay awake. Thankfully, her husband seemed to understand what she was trying to say by her body language.

"If we go to a doctor at Court, they'll find out about the pregnancy and we can't risk that; it's too soon."

"So back to the hospital?"

"I'm afraid so," said Dimitri and headed to his car. "Call Sydney and tell her to meet us there."

The brunette's husband took the car keys out of the pocket her jacket (miraculously they hadn't fall down during the fight) and threw them at Eddie. The idea was for him to drive while Dimitri stayed in the back seat with his wife.

The way to the hospital was completely silent, except the occasional "stay awake, Roza" from Dimitri. She knew she shouldn't sleep; that was going to be bad for her and her baby, but she was feeling so tired. She didn't really cared anymore what happened; all she wanted was to sleep and for her headache to stop. When they arrived at the emergency wing, Rose was barely awake.

"Hello, excuse me. My friend hit her head and she's bleeding. We think she has a concussion," said Eddie desperately to a nurse that was passing by as soon as they entered. He pointed back to where Rose lied in her husband's arms; Sydney, Adrian and the children surrounding them.

"Sir, please calm down. You need to talk to the receptionist first; its procedure," the nurse said; she was chewing gum loudly.

"She's pregnant and almost unconscious!" the Dhampir yelled angrily. "I don't have time to talk and fill out a form!"

"I'll see what I can do." She disappeared swaying her hips and left Eddie standing alone, tapping his foot impatiently against the floor.

She reappeared a few minutes later with a stretcher and a doctor by her side. "Where's your friend?" asked the doctor; he looked forty-something and had jet-black hair.

Eddie pointed to were their friends stood, yet again, and he motioned Dimitri to bring Rose over to them. He put his wife in the bed swiftly and stroked her cheek gently. The nurse seemed totally moved by the romance behind his action. The doctor, on the other hand, appeared completely unfazed and started rolling the stretcher towards the door from where he had come before. Dimitri immediately started walking too but the forty-year-old stopped him.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't come in. You'll have to wait here. And fill out the form of the patient."

The Dhampir opened his mouth to protest but Eddie put one hand on his arm. "Let's just go with the others; Rose will be fine."

Dimitri seemed reluctant to let her go but after kissing his wife's forehead, he let Eddie guide him to where Sydney, Eddie, Carly, and Declan sat.

 **FIN.** **I know this ending is really mean. Please don't kill me! Did you like it? Reviews, faves and follows are always welcomed.**

 **I want to make a deal with you guys. If this chapter reaches 10 reviews or more, I promise I'll publish the next chapter in less than a week. If not, you'll have to wait a little longer. Your choice**

 **Happy New Year! Love you all! Byee**


	10. Chapter 10

**HELLOO! I'm sorry it took me so long to update; writer's block is a b*tch. But I'm here now and thats all taht counts, right? Hope you enjoy this chapter. It took me a lot of research about what was wrong with Rose.**

 **Betareader: RomitriIsMyMaximumMortalFlaw**

* * *

Chapter 10

Five minutes after they took Rose away, the gum-chewing nurse came back. "I need you to fill out the patient's form," she said and gave Dimitri a paper and a pencil. "Also, I need to ask you a few questions about what happened to…"

"Rose," Dimitri immediately responded.

"To Rose. First of all, how did she hit her head?"

The friends looked at each other nervously. The Dhampir and Moroi weren't sure how to explain to a human that an evil vampire attacked them and caused Rose this injury.

Finally, Sydney spoke with all the professionalism of an Alchemist. "We were exiting the _Cheesecake Factory_ when some burglars came and tried to steal from us. Rose tried to fight them; one pushed her and she hit her head against the pavement."

"It was really bad," Eddie added, in hope that it would help.

"Okay; second question. Is Rose really brave or does she got a death wish?" the nurse, who's name tag identified her as Raquel, asked, still chewing her bubble gum loudly.

"She's trained; she works as a personal body guard," answered Sydney, without missing a bit. "But the man was too strong and knew how to fight."

Raquel asked a few more questions about the incident; how much time had passed; Rose's behavior after it happened. Sydney answered everything, while Dimitri filled the form, and Eddie and Adrian distracted the kids. Carly and Declan didn't really understand what had happened or why where they in the hospital; all they knew was that some bad, mean guy had hurt their Aunt Rose.

When the paperwork was done, Raquel took it and turned around to leave when she stopped, as if remembering something. "I'm sorry, I almost forget. We need one of you to come to the patient's room, preferably a relative. The doctor is going to ask Rose a few questions about her life, to see how bad the trauma is, and he needs someone to check if what she is saying is correct."

"I'm her husband; I'll go," Dimitri said instantly and stood up; he wanted to see Rose right away.

"Let's go."

The human and Dhampir walked through a long hallway until Raquel stopped. The door was open and inside lied Rose, her eyes narrow like the light hurt her. The black-haired doctor sat in a chair in front of her and was talking; though Dimitri knew her wife well enough to know she wasn't listening.

"Doctor, I brought the patient's husband," she said as they entered the room.

"I'm Dimitri Belikov."

"Nice to meet you. I'm doctor Isaiah Horan," said the doctor, extending his hand to stretch Dimitri's. "Now that you're here, we should begin the questions."

The Dhampir nodded and went to sit next to Rose; he took her hand and squeezes, to let her know he's there for her.

"First, please tell me your complete name and your birthday, Rose," asked the doctor.

"Rosemarie Hathaway. March 29th."

Doctor Horan looked at Dimitri for confirmation and he nodded again. "Do you know who is sitting next to you?"

"That's my husband."

"Do you know why are you here? What happened?"

Rose closed her eyes tightly, trying to remember the events that brought her to where she was. "I…Dimitri lied…he and Sydney took me to Dr. Friar….we are having a boy…I don't know what happened after that."

"That's true. And then we went to the _Cheesecake Factory_ to celebrate."

The brunette shook her head. She didn't remember anything after the appointment with the gynecologist. Doctor Horan looked at the couple's exchange curiously and took some notes in a notebook; everything could help him with his final diagnosis.

"That'll be it, Mr. Belikov. Now, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave the room. We are going to run a few more test on Rosemarie before knowing for sure what's wrong with her. Raquel here will keep you updated."

Dimitri opened his mouth to protest but closed it immediately. It didn't matter how much he argued, the doctor was still going to kick him out. So he muttered a thank you, squeezed Rose's hand one last time and left his wife.

He arrived to the waiting room and found his three friends chatting quietly while the two kids played on Sydney's phone. As soon as they saw him, they all started talking at the same time. Everyone said different words but the content of the message was the same: is Rose okay?

"She was awake when I saw her. She didn't remember anything that happened after the ultrasound. Doctor Horan said he needed to run a few more tests to determine what's wrong with Rose. I'll wait here, but you can go; take the children home."

"Are you crazy? We're not leaving you alone. Especially with Rose hurt!" exclaimed Adrian and the other two nodded in agreement.

"Are you certain? We don't know how long the exams will take; we could be here all night? What about the children?"

Sydney took Adrian's phone out of his pocket (the kids had hers) and quickly dialed a number. She talked for a couple of minutes before hanging up. "Problem solved. I asked the neighbors if Declan and Carly could stay with them for tonight and they agreed. I'll drive them now and come back as soon as possible."

Dimitri felt relieved; even if he had offered to stay in the hospital alone, he hadn't really wanted to. He was anxious about Rose and the baby, his baby, and didn't know if he could handle being alone if the doctor brought bad news.

…..

A whole hour passed and there still were no news about the brunette. By that time, everyone was a nervous wreck. Adrian and Sydney, who had arrived recently from leaving the kids at the neighbor's house, were sitting together, holding each other; Eddie paced from one side of the room to another; and Dimitri sat on one of the chair, his eyes closed, like he was meditating.

He had called Lissa earlier, to tell her about what had happened and that they weren't going to arrive that night, like it was planned. The Queen had freaked out; she cried and said he was going to the hospital, too. Between Dimitri and Christian, the two of them convinced her that would only attract unwanted attention and would be a waste of time. Lissa reluctantly accepted, with the condition that the Dhampir kept her updated.

Finally, the nurse came back to where the three waited; though none of them noticed.

"Family of Rosemarie Hathaway," called Raquel. Dimitri's eyes shot open and quickly walked to where the nurse was; Eddie, Sydney, and Adrian on his tail.

"I'm sorry to inform you that Rose has a concussion grade 3; it's the most severe kind of concussion. Thankfully she hasn't fallen into a coma; though we'll have to keep her on observation tonight to make sure. She and the baby are okay. However, Rosemarie will most likely suffer from PCS, post-concussion syndrome."

Everybody but Sydney seemed to see that as good news. She wasn't smiling like the others, but frowning at Raquel. There were still two things bothering her. First, the fact of the PCS; Sydney didn't know how bad the aftermath would be, but it worried her. Second, that, during the whole monologue, the nurse hadn't stopped chewing her gum loudly. Which drove Sydney completely crazy; it was annoying and not hygienic!

She opened her mouth to ask Raquel if she could please stop it when Adrian placed one of his hands around her waist and squeezed. He had seen the look her wife was giving the nurse and guessed what was bothering instantly. If he was being honest, it bothered him a bit, too, but he didn't want to get into a fight with the nurse in charge of Rose.

"What is this post-concussion syndrome exactly?"

"Just some symptoms that may occur after a concussion; dizziness, headache, memory loss, insomnia, and some others. Their duration may vary from days to months to forever. Not all people have them but given the grade of her concussion, it's very likely Rosemarie will."

Well, that made their happiness vanish quickly. Dimitri was worried that these symptoms could interfere with her work as a guardian; he knew how much that meant to his wife and how good she was at it. He couldn't bare thinking what would happen if she couldn't be Lissa's guardian—or anyone's guardian—anymore.

 _One step at the time,_ he told himself. _Let's focus on Rose and the baby being fine first. You can worry about later._

"Can we see her?" asked Eddie.

"She's sleeping right now. And the visiting hours are over. One of you, the husband, can stay in her room. The rest of you will just have to see her tomorrow after ten," Raquel said and left to talk to the receptionist.

They understood, even though they were disappointed, and said their goodbyes to Dimitri. Sydney instructed him to call if anything happened. After they left, the Dhampir walked to Rose's room and sat in the little chair besides her bed. It wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep in, but Dimitri had been in worse, so he didn't really care.

"You'll be okay, Roza. Everything will be okay," he whispered and took her hand.

He wanted to believe it so bad but she looked so pale and fragile; not Rose-like at all.

 _We've been through worse. It will be fine._

* * *

 **How was it? Hate? Love? As always, reviews, faves and follows would make me so happy.**

 **BTW, I have a favor to ask you guys. I don't even know if you'll read this, but I'll risk it. I am writing an original story in Inkitt (Alina's Halloween) and I would love it you took the time to read it and tell me what you thought about it. You can tell me your opinion by leaving a review in inkittt, or a review here, or send me a PM.**

 **www . inkitt stories / 57283 (obviously without the spaces inbetween)**

 **That's all. Byee love you**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello!**

 **First, I would like to answer a few reviews. I know I don't normally do this but I felt it necessary.**

 **Knpkynsrr (Guest): No, this story is not complete. I'm not sure how long it's going to be but I'm guessing it will be around 20 chapters.**

 **Guest that said: 'That was really nice. Update sooner... I started to forget what has happened before this chapter': I know and I'm sorry. I promise I'll try harder.**

 **And finally, Guest who criticized my writing in a really rude way (you know who you are): I appreciate constructive criticism but yours was beyond that. I am human, I make mistakes. I'M SORRY. And I have a beta reader, so there's no way there are as many grammar mistakes as you make it seem. There may be some, I'm aware of that, but I would really appreciate it if you told me about them kindly. Also, I you should know that synonyms are necessary; writing only 'Rose that, Rose this, Rose, Rose, Rose' without any synonym like 'the brunette' or 'her' would make my writing seem amateur-ish and really annoying (at least in my opinion). This is the way I write. If you don't like it, don't read it. And if you have some information that you think could help me, tell me about it in a nice way.**

 **With that said, here goes your chapter:**

 **PS: This is the checked and proofread version :)**

Spirit Baby

Chapter 11

As soon as Rose woke up, she knew where she was. The smell of disinfectants in the air, the rough sheets, the sounds of the machines around her; the whole scenario was way too familiar to her. Unlike movies, the brunette didn't feel disoriented nor had a hard time finding out her location. She was, yet again, waking up in a hospital room.

However, she did not know why she was there. She tried to remember but she had a killer headache that didn't allow her to think clearly. Rose shut her eyes; she felt like her brain was being crushed. And the bright lights, along with the very white walls, weren't helping.

 _You've_ _been through worse,_ she told herself. _This is just a little headache. Grow up, Rose._ Breathing slowing, she opened her eyes. At first, she had to squint but after a few minutes, but it didn't hurt as much. She looked around; it was, indeed, a hospital.

As her eyes traveled through the room, she realized there was another person in the room. Dimitri sat on the chair next to her bed with his eyes closed and his head against the wall. He looked exhausted.

"Hey, Comrade," said Rose, her voice barely a whisper.

The brunette didn't think he had heard, but she was proven wrong when her husband jumped out of his chair and looked around worriedly. After he realized there was no danger threatening his wife, he sat again and took both of her hands.

"Roza. My Roza. You're awake! How are you feeling?" he asked softly.

"My head hurts. A lot."

Just then Raquel entered the room, carrying a tray with food.

"Oh, you're awake," she said, her voice sounding bored. "I'll go tell the doctor."

She left the tray on a table and swinger her hips out the door. Rose didn't wait for her to close the door behind her— she quickly lunged for the food. However, she didn't calculate she was connected to a machine and just bounced back to bed.

Dimitri laughed. Rose could be dying and still be worried about lunch. He grabbed the tray and placed it in her lap, who smiled happily in return.

"I knew I married you for a reason," she joked while eating her Jell-O.

 _She can't be that bad if she joking,_ Dimitri thought hopefully.

"Does your head still hurt?"

"Yeah. But I'm starving, so I don't feel it as bad."

"That's my Roza," said Dimitri with a smile and kissed her cheek.

Just then, Dr. Horan entered the room, with Raquel at his heels.

"Hello, Rosemarie. I'm glad to see that you're awake," he greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"How's my baby?" immediately asked Rose, ignoring the doctor's question.

"We did an ultrasound and some other tests; they all told us the baby is completely fine. You have nothing to worry about. Now, tell me: how do _you_ feel?"

"I'm fine. Nothing hurts," the brunette lied. "Am I free to go now?"

Rose hated hospitals. The nurses and doctors there always treated her like a helpless baby, incapable of the simplest tasks like walking or dressing. Also, the food there was awful. As soon as she swallowed a bit of the Jell-O they had brought her, she almost threw it up. Only her extreme hunger made her eat that mushy, mass that they called food. Besides, the brunette had woken up in a hospital bed way too many times. If she never saw one ever again, it would be too soon.

Now that she knew her baby boy was fine, she couldn't find a reason to stay in that place.

"She's lying— her head hurts," interceded Dimitri.

 _Damn it,_ thought Rose. _He knows me too well._ Her husband had always been able of reading her like an open book and this time wasn't different.

Dr. Horan looked at the couple, puzzled as to whom to believe: the actual patient or the worried husband. He finally decided for the latter. Dimitri seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn't let his wife suffer ever. Besides, he had no reason to lie.

"A headache it's nothing to worry about. It is completely normal for patients with concussions to have them. It's part of the PCS-post concussion syndrome," he said and explained to Rose what it was about. "Have you felt anymore symptoms besides your headache; dizziness or memory loss?"

 _Well, I can't really remember what happened yesterday, so I guess there's that._ Rose knew she should tell the doctor about her little episode of amnesia, but she didn't want to risk staying to long in the hospital. She didn't want to lie anymore; not when her lying could affect the little-Dimitri growing in her belly. _Maybe the best solution is to remember yesterday's episode. That way, I won't have to lie and I'll be able to go. I'm a genius!_

She closed her eyes, ignoring the weird looks the other people in the room were giving her. Ignoring the pounding of her head, she tried to picture what had happened after the visit to Dr. Friar- the last thing she could remember of the day before.

At first, nothing came. But after a moment, images started to flash in her mind. The receptionist of the _Cheesecake Factory._ The toast. The fight with the Strigoi. She still couldn't remember the way to the hospital but she figured there was a good chance she was unconscious during that, so it was normal she didn't have any memory of it.

"I don't have any other symptoms; I'm sure," she said at last.

"But you lied before!" intervened Raquel, pointing the brunette with her finger. "So how do we know you're not lying now?"

"She not," said Dimitri, studying his wife carefully.

Dr. Horan didn't seem to hear him; instead he grabbed the nurse's arm and glared at her. "Raquel, remember what we've talked about? You need to be nicer to the patients!"

Raquel bowed her head in submission but didn't apologize.

"As you don't have any other symptom besides a headache, you should be able to go home in a couple of hours," the doctor continued, this time addressing the couple. "I just want you on observation first; to see if anything changes."

…..

The hours passed and the only thing that changed was Rose's state of boredom; it went from nonexistent to mild to extreme. She hated just lying on the bed, completely helpless, with nurses and doctors coming in and out to test her. Dimitri stayed with her the whole time, only leaving her side to go to the bathroom and to buy some food for the both of them. Sydney, Eddie, and Adrian came to visit during lunch time, though the children couldn't come because of school.

Even with the visits she received and the attention she got from her husband, Rose was still bored out of her mind. And she was feeling restless; the more she stayed in the hospital, the longer Lissa would spend without her main guardian. So, by the time Dr. Horan came to see her again, with Raquel on tail carrying some papers and her clothes, the brunette was tapping her fingers against the bed, incapable of focusing on the magazine in front of her.

"Good news, Rosemarie," greeted the doctor. "Every exam you took was clear and as you didn't show any changes, you can go home. And I know it is annoying, but you have to fill some more forms before you go."

"It's all right. I'll do that while you go change your clothes," said Dimitri.

Rose smiled fondly at her husband before taking her pants and shirt from Raquel and running to the bathroom. She quickly stripped from her hospital gown and put her clothes on. Her shirt had dirt on it and her jeans some tears from the fighting, but she didn't care; after all, she had worn worst things.

When she came out, she noticed both the doctor and the nurse had left the room; only Dimitri remained, talking on his phone.

"I'm ready!" announced the brunette. "Can we go now?"

Her husband said goodbye to the person he was talking to and quickly put away the cell phone, giving Rose his full attention.

"Yes, we can. I just spoke to Eddie; he's coming to pick us up. They took our car to their home last night."

Rose nodded and went to hug Dimitri. He reciprocated and put his arms around her tightly; after being so close of losing her, he wanted to have her as close as he could. He leaned in and kissed her; their kiss full of passion and love. Rose's hands went under his shirt and he hugged her waist in a way no air could come between them. But just when things started to get heated, they were interrupted by Dimitri's phone ringing; Eddie was calling to tell them he was waiting outside. The couple reluctantly parted to go meet their friend.

"I'm so happy you're fine, Rose!" exclaimed Eddie when they arrived to the car. "We were so worried."

"I'm happy I'm fine too, to be honest. Death doesn't sound fun at all," she answered.

"And… the old Rose is back!" All though he said it in an annoyed tone, Eddie was grinning.

As he watched his friend and his wife talk and share jokes, Dimitri smiled. He was happy things were back to normal; he had been really scared earlier. But that was not a problem anymore; Rose may have some headaches and nausea but nothing major. His wife and his boy were safe and that was all that mattered to him.

 **Not my best, I know. I hope you liked it though. Review, favorite and follow :)**

 **And now that we know the baby is a boy, I think is time we start thinking about names! I have some ideas but I would love to hear yours as well. Tell me in the reviews which boy name you like and why should Rose and Dimitri name their kid that way.**

 **Bye**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello my beautiful readers. I know you probably hate me by now but I would like to try to excuse myself. I've been having some, you could say trouble, with my beta reader. And, besides, I'm currently on vacations on the beach so I haven't been writing that much. I hope you forgive me.**

 **I've decided that I will choose my favorite review every time I publish a chapter. So this first 'review of the week' goes to *drum roll*: Snowyangel17. Thank you for lifting my ego like that. I was feeling kinda depressed (I even thought of abandoning this fanfic to be honest) so thank you so much.**

 **UPDATE: THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED SO WE CAN ALL BREATH EASY AGAIN :D**

Spirit Baby

Chapter 12

Dimitri and Rose arrived at Court in the middle of the night (or day, if you're living on human schedule). He drove the two hours from the Ivashkov's house to their home while she slept soundly next to him. Due to her pregnancy, the doctor couldn't prescribe her anything stronger than an Ibuprofen to ease her PSC, so she thought sleeping was a good way to forget her headache for a while. It was in times like this when Rose missed the spirit bond the most; she would have given anything to just slip into her best friend's mind and forgetting about her own problems.

As soon as they arrived, they went straight to the royal compounds; the couple knew Lissa couldn't wait to see her best friend. It didn't matter if it was the middle of the night. They entered the Queen's living room quietly, just to find that both Lissa and Christian were sitting on a couch, waiting for them.

"Rose, I was so worried about you!" exclaimed Lissa and lunged forward to hug her friend. "When Dimitri called and said you were in the hospital, I...I..."

"I know, don't worry, Liss. Both the baby and I are perfect. Well, kinda," Rose answered, embracing the blonde tightly. When she let go of Lissa, Christian opened her arms to her, like he was waiting for a hug too.

"Missed me, Ozera?" she mocked him, but hugged him anyways.

"Who would I bicker with if you were gone?" he replied.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw Lissa greeting Dimitri excitedly, thanking him for taking care of her best friend.

After some more greeting, hugging, and congratulating- after all, Dimitri and Rose had just found out the sex of their baby- Christian asked a question everyone had different answers to.

"So, Rose, when are you going back to work?" _If you're going back,_ he left out.

"As soon as possible; I'm guessing in a few days," said Rose.

At the same time, Dimitri answered:

"The doctor said to rest; in at least a month."

Lissa put her hands on her hips."I don't want you working in a long time. At least not until the baby is born."

Christian looked at the three of them, puzzled. "Who am I supposed to believe now?"

They all started talking at the same time; Rose didn't want to miss work, while Dimitri wanted her to rest (though he understood he couldn't hold her forever) and Lissa just wanted to put her friend in a box for safekeeping and never let go.

"Forget I asked," the King Consort said at last.

"Christian's right," Dimitri agreed. "Let's talk about this in the morning; calmly and after a full night of sleep."

They all agreed (even though Rose wasn't too happy about it) and parted ways.

….

Three days had passed and Rose was feeling restless. She hated feeling useless. Seeing her husband go to work made her feel guilty for leaving Lissa alone. She [capitalize] was tired of lying in her pajamas, eating donuts all day— something she never thought possible. Yes, maybe she had been having headache and nausea during her free days, but she could handle it.

So she called the guardian that had been replacing her and told her she didn't have to do it anymore, dressed up in her uniform and started walking towards the Queen's home. On her way, she ran into her colleague and partner Max Wilson. He was a tall forty-year-old Dhampir with dirty blonde hair. He greatly considered Rose the daughter he never had.

"You're back, Hathaway!" said Max as soon as he saw his fellow guardian walking towards him. "I heard you encountered some Strigoi and got a concussion."

"I did. Hurts like hell," Rose joked. "But now I'm back! I hope you didn't find a permanent replacement for me."

"I wouldn't dare," he laughed. They had worked together— always had the same shifts—for two years and the both of them loved it.

They started walking, chatting about everything that happened at Court while Rose was gone. They talked about how worried everyone was— the Queen, Max himself, other guardians, even some Moroi— when the news came about the Strigoi attack and the concussion. Rose couldn't believe everything he was telling her; there was no way everyone cared so much for her.

"You're a big celebrity around here, Hathaway. Every single person was concerned about your health. Everyone was talking about you," Max stated.

Rose felt like she had a knot in her stomach. _I don't even want to think what will people when they hear about my baby,_ then, she thought gloomily. She changed the subject; she was getting too nervous.

"C'mon, we'll be late if we don't hurry," Rose said and started walking a little bit faster and leaving Max behind. It didn't last long, though. She hadn't even covered ten meters before dizziness overtook her, forcing her to stop moving and lean on a tree. Maybe she wasn't as well as she had thought she was. Max run to where the brunette was.

"What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a...nothing," answered the brunette. She had tried to come up with a good lie but her head was palpitating once again and it was making it hard to concentrate. Stupid PCS. Stupid Strigoi. Stupid headache. "Just forget it."

"Are you sure? I could call a doctor…" he insisted and an alarmed look appeared on his face. She couldn't let him do that for obvious reasons.

"I said I'm fine," Rose said, a bit harshly this time. She stopped leaning onto the tree and straightened herself. She was going to prove he had nothing to worry about. Only as soon as she didn't have something to support herself with, her legs gave in under her and started to fall again. If it weren't for Max, she would have definitely hit the floor. Hard.

"You are so not okay," he said, placing one hand on her waist.

He looked around, wondering what to do. He only had to do it for a few seconds before his answer just walked by him: one of the Court's doctors, wearing a white coat. Max didn't know this guy in particular but it wasn't important at the moment.

"Doctor!" he exclaimed. "Doctor, I need some medical assis—"

Max was cut short by Rose, who placed both of her hands on top of his mouth. "Please, shut the fuck up," she whispered to him, her face deadly serious. "I don't need a doctor. I'll just go to my apartment; I'll be fine, then."

"Wow, easy, Hathaway," he replied. "At least let me take you there. In case you faint on your way or something."

Rose doubted for a second before agreeing; she knew he wasn't going to let her go on her own and she really didn't feel like fighting. All though she let him walk her home, there was no way she was going to let Max hold her hand and help her walk. The brunette forced herself to walk on a straight line and, though it took them longer than what it would normally have to arrive at Rose's house, she managed to do it almost perfectly. Until she didn't.

They were climbing up the stairs— the building didn't have an elevator and the apartment was in the second floor— when Rose head went crazy. She had had a headache during the whole morning but nothing compared to that. It felt like something was trying to rip the brunette's skull wide open with its bare hands. The pain was so intense she had to stop for a minute and hold onto the railing to avoid falling.

"I don't care what you said, Hathaway. You're obviously not okay," Max stated and, in a swift move, he picked her up bridal style. She protested weakly but her eyes were closed.

He climbed the set of stairs left and entered Rose's apartment, which was unlocked. He left her on the couch and kneeled beside her.

"Do you need something?" Max asked her worriedly.

"Ibuprofen; top drawer in the bathroom."

He ran to the bathroom and reappeared a few seconds later, a little box in his hand. He opened the box and took one white pill out. Rose received it eagerly and, without bothering to go for a glass of water, swallowed it.

They stayed in silence for a few minutes after that; Max too afraid to disturb his partner and Rose waiting for the pill to work. It wasn't until it worked and the brunette's headache decreased that she opened her mouth to talk.

"Thanks, Max," she said honestly. "That was a bad one."

"No problem. I'm glad you're feeling better."

Rose smiled at him and took her black jacket off, so she was only wearing her loose, white work shirt. Then, she stood up from the couch and walked to the kitchen, Max on her heels. She grabbed a pack of double-stuffed Oreos, a glass and a carton of milk and started eating.

"Want some?" the brunette asked Max. She was sitting on the counter with cookie crumbles all over her shirt.

"Sure," he answered and took the Oreo she offered. "I'm a bit thirsty,too. Do you mind if I get a glass of water?"

"Help yourself."

Max searched for a glass in the cabinets behind him. He filled it with water and went to sit next to Rose, failing to notice she had hoped off the counter and was walking in his direction— she was having a weird craving for peanut butter— and crushed with her, spilling the whole glass of water on her.

"Fuck, I'm sorry, Ro—" he stopped short when he saw the brunette. Due to the water and because it was white, her shirt looked semi-transparent and clung to her so her baby bump was fully noticeable. "Wow, I think you ate way too many Oreos. That or you're… pregnant."

"I thought I was the one with the concussion," answered Rose smoothly; thank God she had always been a good liar. "You're talking nonsense, Max."

"Am I, really? I'm your partner, Rose; I see you every single day. First, you get sick at work really often. Then, you disappear for a few days— God knows to do what and reappear with a concussion. And I can see your baby bump right now. You can't lie."

 _I guess there's no denying it now,_ the brunette thought bitterly.

"You can't tell anyone. No one, Max," she said seriously.

"Do...does Belikov know? I can't believe you…that you cheated. I always thought you two were so happy together," he paused, unsure if he should ask what he wanted to. "I know I shouldn't ask, but…who's the father?"

"No, no, no! You've got it all wrong. Dimitri is the father."

"C'mon, Hathaway. We're not just partners, we're friends. You don't have to lie; I won't judge you," Max insisted.

"I'm not lying! It's…it's a long, complicated story; I don't think I fully understand it myself but he's mine and Dimitri's baby. It's all thanks to the spirit."

"Are you sure?" he asked again. Rose couldn't really blame him; it did sound like a fantasy story.

"I wouldn't lie to you about this. Trust me; I'm telling the truth."

"Okay, I believe you. But you have to explain how is on Earth is this possible." Max was completely confused; what Rose was saying went against everything he had ever learned.

"Fine, but some other time. I'm not feeling like talking that much right now."

"I'll take your word on it, Hathaway. And now I should go. I'm so late; the queen is going to kill me."

"I'll see you later, Max," she said and gave him a short hug. "And one more thing: if you ever tell anyone, I don't care who, I promise, I'm going to find you. And it's not going to be pretty."

Her face was dead serious and even if Max was more than a foot taller, he felt intimidated. Everyone knew about Rose's reputation and he didn't doubt she was going to keep her promise.

"I won't. Trust me."

 **As always, tell me what you thought. And if you have some ideas of baby names, I'd be happy to hear them. See ya!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, so I'm back from my hiatus. I hope you missed me; I know I certainly missed all of you.**

* * *

 **Spirit Baby**

 ** _Chapter 13_**

 ** _Words: 1897_**

Rose paced across the room, compulsively twirling her silver stake in her hands. She wore a simple shirt with jeans. Max may have promised her to keep the promise about the baby but that didn't mean that he kept quiet about her little fainting episode. He told Lisa everything and she told Dimitri, which resulted in Rose being banned from working until the pregnancy was over. It's not like she hadn't tried to change their minds or sneak out and do her job anyway when that didn't work but it probably wasn't her most brilliant plan, considering that Lisa was the one she worked for.

Two weeks had gone by since then and Rose didn't think she could resist much longer. She felt completely useless, watching all her friends run from one place, helping Lisa in one way or another while she sat on her couch and watched _Friends_ reruns in her pajamas.

 _I swear, being alone all day is driving me crazy_ , she had told Dimitri with complete honesty. With nothing to distract herself with, the side-effects of the concussion – headaches, mostly – were stronger than she would have liked. Plus, she had so much free time, she couldn't help but obsessing over every single thing she didn't have any control over, especially the baby. Could they keep leaving at Court after the baby's born? When was she supposed to tell people? Was she even capable of being a mother? Without a stable motherly figure to grow up with, Rose was feeling more and more insecure about what the future would bring for their future family.

And now, she had to break the news to her own unstable parents, plus her husband's crazy family. Rose wasn't worried about that last part, though; she knew that they were going to be beyond excited and surprised (well, except Yeva. She probably already knew). But her parents… that was different. They were unpredictable and, even though Rose was pretty sure they were going to be happy about a grandchild, she couldn't be certain. How weird was that? She was more scared of how would her own blood react.

It had finally been Lisa the one that had invited Janine over to Court. _She won't be able to say no if the Queen is the one summoning her,_ she reasoned and Rose had to agree; if Lisa called, her mother wouldn't be able to say she's too busy with work.

Abe had been easy to bring. With his restless, adventurous spirit, Rose had barely finished inviting him and he was already boarding an airplane to Pennsylvania.

Her – insane – train of thoughts was interrupted by Dimitri, in his guardian uniform, crossing through the door. He glanced at his wife only for a moment before shaking his head and walking towards her, where he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You're pacing again, Roza," he said softly.

"I'm not working and I should avoid going outside because of my baby bump. I'm basically in house arrest now," she answered defensively. Dimitri studied her with surprise; though she did act like that around stranger, with him, Rose always showed her softer side. "Sorry… it's the boredom. You know I finished the last season of _Friends_ today? What am I supposed to do now?"

He laughed. "I'm sure there are tons of other TV shows waiting for you to watch them."

"Mmm… I don't think I want to watch TV right now." Suddenly her hands were on the back of his neck, playing with his hair, and her voice was barely a whisper.

"What do you want to do, then?" Dimitri didn't even let her finish her sentence before his lips were on hers and they were kissing furiously. They stumbled backwards to the couch and Rose's shirt had just disappeared on the floor when they heard the sound of the front door unlocking. Being the professional guardians that they were, the couple quickly untangled themselves and stood up.

Rose had just bent over to find her shirt – she had realized that only one person had a spare key to their apartment – when Lisa barged in. She quickly muttered a 'sorry' to her guardians before closing the door in their faces. After all, Rose's bump was more visible than ever and, even though Dhampirs were trained to mind their own business, Lisa couldn't risk it.

"Wow, Rose, I think one baby is enough for now," the Queen joked as her best friend as she watched her best friend get dressed.

"Hilarious, Liss," the brunette answered, rolling her eyes. She was about to retaliate with a joke about Lisa and Christian when she saw how serious her best friend's face was; concern washed over immediately. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Christian, Jill –?"

"They are fine, we are all okay. I promise," Lissa smiled to prove her point. "It's just… the guys that work at the gates of Court just informed me that you're mom just arrived. And your dad will be here any minute."

"And..?"

"You know what, Rose. You can't keep putting this off. You have to tell them," Lissa scolded her best friend. "That's why we are having that dinner tonight. All of the special guests you forced to come are here; there's no going back now."

"What about Sidney, Adrian, and Eddie?" Rose asked. "Are they here too? Because, you know we can't start without them. Adrian would murder me and Sydney would get rid of my corpse."

"They arrived a few hours ago. Adrian and Sydney are at Mrs. Ivashkov's place and Eddie is probably making out with Jill somewhere," Lissa answered and both girls grinned. "Though I still don't understand why you insisted that they come. It's not as if they don't know the big news."

 _They don't, really_ , Rose thought. _And neither do you._ But she wasn't to tell the blonde that; it would ruin the whole surprise factor. Tell her parents about the baby and the rest about the name they had chosen; it was killing two birds with one stone.

"I wanted them here to babysit me for when you're busy," the Dhampir said instead with sarcasm. "You know, Sydney can cut my food in tiny, little squares, Adrian can chew it for me and Eddie can carry me on his back the whole time so I can't ever risk tripping."

"Ha-ha, you're so funny, Rose. I'm just taking care of you and the baby, you know that," Lissa hesitated for a second, as if it pained her to say her next words. "Okay, so I may exaggerate a bit –"

"A bit?" Rose asked incredulously and Dimitri chuckled by her side.

"A lot. But you already got yourself one concussion. Sorry if I don't want you to get another one."

"Lissa's got a point, Roza," Dimitri intervened and the aforementioned glared at him. "We only want the best for you and for our son."

"I know, I know and I love you both for it but –"

"You feel like an elephant trapped in a hamster's cage?" Helped Dimitri and Rose raised her eyebrows with amusement; what the hell was that metaphor? "We know. And that's why we need to hurry and spread the news about your pregnancy. That way you'll be able to go out without hiding your belly and being completely paranoid."

"But, we cannot tell people before we tell your parents," added Lissa.

"Why do you two always ganged up on me?" Rose complained. "I really don't like it."

The Queen ignored her. "Okay, then, dinner's in two hours. I'll see you there." She was almost out the door when she turned around to glance at her best friend one last time. "And if you even consider bailing, I swear to God, Rose, I'll stake you myself."

* * *

"So?" Abe spoke after a long silence and all eyes turned to her.

"So what, Old Man?"

"So, Little Girl, what the hell are we doing here?"

"Yeah, I would like to know that myself, Rose," Janine added. "What's so important that you had to get Lissa to get me off work? With all due respect, Queen, what you did was very irresponsible. I can't just leave Lord Szelzky for any reason."

"Idiot may trip with his own two feet," Abe said and Adrian chuckled lightly. "He's gained so much weight this past years; I'd be surprised if he still saw anything south to his huge stomach."

Despite her anxiety, Rose still found it in herself to laugh at the image of an extremely fat Lord Szelzky tripping and falling on his face. Her mother, however, didn't seem to find it funny at all and instead glared at Abe as intensely.

"Lighten up, Janine. It was just a joke!"

Janine ignored him and turned to her daughter. "So what's the big news?"

"Mmm…well, it's actually two things," Lissa raised her eyebrows and mouthed ' _two?'_ but Rose dismissed her question. "The first one is…" The brunette focused her gaze on her husband, in some serious need of some moral support. Dimitri found her hand under the table and squeezed. "I'm pregnant!"

Her parents' reactions didn't surprise her at all. While Janine sat up straighter in her chair, not muttering a word, Abe immediately started making questions about the real father and why was Dimitri okay with Rose carrying another man's baby. Immediately every single person intervened and they all started explaining the whole spirit thing, making it impossible for anyone to understand what they were saying. It took a loud whistle from Sydney before Rose could explain everything to her parents correctly.

 _When did it happen that explaining the magical side effects of the spirit become an 'every day' thing?_ Rose thought as she spoke. She had a speech almost memorized by now about the events of the last couple of months.

After the two adults wrapped their heads around the big news and dessert was served and eaten, everybody had forgotten about the important second announcement Rose and Dimitri were going to make, including themselves. Except for one person.

"What's the second news?" Jill asked out of the blue, as she finished her raspberry ice cream. Every single gaze focused on her with surprised; she shrugged and smiled lightly. "Am I really the only one who remembered that?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Rose agreed. "Dimitri, want to do the honors?"

"I'd be honored," he answered his wife and turned to the rest of the people looking at him eagerly. "We have decided the name of the baby. Theodore…"

Adrian interrupted him before he could finish. "Theodore?" he asked in disbelief.

"It means gift of God. We thought it was appropriate, considering the circumstances."

"You didn't let him finish, though. There's a middle name too."

"Yes," Dimitri continued. "His name is Theodore. Theodore Mason Belikov."

As Dimitri spoke, the brunette focused her eyes solely on Eddie. After all, it was his best friend they were naming the baby after. Rose watched him as he heard the news and his tears swelled in his eyes – though not enough for people to notice if they weren't careful – and he stood up to hug her.

"Thank you," he said sincerely and even though Rose knew he had nothing to thank her for, she didn't argue.

"Do you think he would like it?" she whispered instead.

"He would have loved it."

* * *

 **What did you think? Again, if you have any ideas or comments, please DM me or leave them in the reviews, I'd love to hear them. Also, I'll try to update as soon as possible but, just saying, follows, favorites and reviews really do help me feel more inspired. Love you all !**


	14. Chapter 14

**Spirit Baby**

 ** _Chapter 14_**

 ** _Words: 1660_**

Rose walked into Lissa's living room, the sun still bright in the sky behind her. Though she didn't see anyone as on her way from her place to her best friend's—after all, it was the middle of the night—she still used the shortcuts she had discovered in all of her years working in Court to get there. No matter how many precautions she took to keep her baby a secret, it was never enough; that was also the same reason why Lissa had told her to arrive at her compounds at such ungodly hours.

Though the Queen had been the one to propose the time of their meeting, she looked just as tired as Rose felt. The latter had barely slept a few minutes that day and instead dedicated all of her time thinking why Lissa couldn't just drop by her house a few minutes and tell her what was going on. Finally, she had given up sleeping and turned the TV on. It seemed like watching television was the only thing Rose did lately.

"What's up, Liss?" The blonde waved and yawned in return. Though she still wore her pajamas, somehow she managed to look both elegant and graceful. Looking down at her own body, covered by a pair of yoga pants and one of Dimitri's shirts—it was the only piece of clothing that hide her baby bump almost completely—Rose thought she certainly didn't resemble her friend.

"Hey, you're here." Lissa rubbed her eyes and straightened, forcing herself to be fully awake. "I need to talk to you about something."

"And here I was thinking you called me here only to play _Scrabble_ ," replied Rose. Lissa, so used to her friend's sarcastic comments, didn't even bother to reply and instead just patted the seat next to her. Rose sat. "What about?"

"You know what."

The brunette sighed. A part of her had always known what they needed to talk about; she just didn't want to admit it. "Announcing Theo to the world."

Lissa nodded. "I know it's hard but we have to do it, Rose. You can't spend the rest of your pregnancy locked inside your apartment and, even if you did, what are you going to do when Theo is born? You have to face reality."

Rose didn't say anything for the longest of times. A knot tightened around her throat and her eyes pricked with tears. "I'm scared," she admitted, her voice so soft she thought Lissa might not even listen. It was a hard thing for her to admit. Never—no matter how dangerous was the situation she was facing—had she felt that scared, that vulnerable. Not for her but for Theo.

 _What if the Council considers him a threat and locks him up as soon as he is born? What if they use him for science experiments?_ She wanted her son to have a normal, happy childhood and even with the Queen by her side, she couldn't ensure it. And it was killing her.

"I know you are. But you can't avoid it forever."

The brunette wiped away her tears. "Can't I?" Plans started forming in her mind but none was viable; they all included leaving Court, and that was something Rose couldn't do. She was not about to leave her job—make Dimitri leave his too—and all of her friends. She sighed heavily, defeated. "No, I can't."

The sound of the door opening interrupted their conversation, and both girls stood up defensively before they realized the person entering the room was no other than the Queen's husband.

"You told her yet?" He asked his wife, his voice raspy. He didn't even bother greeting Rose and, instead, just threw himself in the couch, clearly exhausted.

"Tell me what?" Rose wandered, but the couple ignored her.

"No, not yet; I was going to now. What are you doing here, anyway?"

Christian scratched his head. "Mmm… moral support? I just couldn't sleep after you left."

"You two are really cute and whatever," Rose interrupted their conversation; she hadn't woken up in the middle of the night to hear those two talk, "but I actually want to know what did you have to tell me, Liss. It's about Theo, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." The blonde seemed nervous. "I don't want you to be mad at me, Rose, but there's a Council meeting tomorrow afternoon, and I already announced you are going to speak in it."

Rose's eyes were wide open; apparently Lissa wasn't kidding when she said they needed to tell everyone soon. "It's too soon! You should've at least given me time to prepare myself mentally; I can't do it tomorrow."

"You have to." Rose glared at her best friend. "You know I'm just doing this because I love you and your baby. Everything is going to be fine. You just have to show up tomorrow and explain what you have already said a hundred times before. I'll be by your side the whole time. And I arranged for Dimitri to be there too."

"It's best if you just get it over with as soon as possible, isn't it?" added Christian.

Though she wasn't happy with what was going on, Rose also knew she didn't have anything to do about it. _Might as well suck it up and do it. People have to find out eventually._

* * *

"Queen Vasilissa, what are Guardians Hathaway and Belikov doing here?" Alexander Voda—an idiotic Moroi that became prince after Priscilla's death—asked, frowning not-so-subtly. He seemed uncomfortable at the Dhampirs' presence, as if they weren't worthy of being in a royal meeting. Judging by their facial expressions, they probably all thought the same thing.

Lissa didn't let herself be intimidated by the sour faces across the room. "Guardian Hathaway—Rose—has an announcement to make. One that concerns all of us," she declared, her voice loud and clear.

Rose looked at her best friend, standing proudly at the head of the table where the Moroi sat. Of course, even though they have allowed them to be present during the Council, they have thrown them in some tiny, plastic chairs established behind Lissa that made Dimitri look ridiculous.

"I hope, Queen Vasilissa, that this announcement is as important as you make it sound. We would hate for you to get your personal and professional relationships mixed up," another snobby Moroi added. No matter how many years had gone by, they were still some that didn't accept nor respect Lissa as their rightful queen.

"It is," intervened Jill, trying to help her half-sister. She seemed to out of place, Rose noticed, wearing jeans and a sweater instead of the other's formal attires.

Lissa smiled at Jill thankfully. "Yes, it is. Now, Rose, come over here and explain to everyone why you're here, please."

All the gazes, full of judgment, settled on the aforementioned, who was hiding behind her dark hair. Rose took a deep breath, but the air felt stuffy and lacking of actual oxygen. Still, she stood up and walked to where her best friend waited for her. _I've already told this speech like a thousand times. Who cares about one more time? Just crack a joke and get on with it already._

"So…," she started, unsure of what to say, "I'm Rose Hathaway. I'm sure you all know me and that most of you don't like me at all—odd, since I've always considered myself a pretty adorable person. I… I'm here to bring some news, which you'll probably consider as bad. I'm pregnant!" She explained to them the whole spirit issue and even lifted her shirt a bit for visual aid. "You're lucky if you think about it. Double the fun, right?"

Now the one glaring at her was no other than her best friend. And she had a right to. They had discussed, almost rehearsed, the elegant, calm, and sarcasm-free way Rose was going to break the news. This was definitely not part of Lissa's plan.

"You know I get like this when I'm nervous," the brunette muttered to Lissa. It wouldn't have mattered, though, if she had shouted instead; the Moroi in the room—except for Jill and the Queen herself—were in full panic mode, arguing and yelling completely outraged. Rose even spotted the guardians in the room talking about it in whispers or just with their eyes.

Now that she'd done what she had come for, Rose went back to her seat, when her husband stood—he had given up with the chair—with a grin on his face.

"That was the final explanation. I'm so proud of you, Roza." He kissed her forehead softly, his voice so full of love it made her wish they were alone at their place. _I guess that will have to wait._

"Now we just have to wait until they calm down and stop acting like headless chickens."

Dimitri didn't look faced by her words and, instead, joked back. "I don't think they ever stop acting like headless chickens." His voice then turned deeper. "Let's get out of here now. We've had enough action for one day; we can deal with the consequences tomorrow. Let's just be alone tonight."

This time Rose wasn't annoyed with Dimitri and his ability to read her mind.

They slipped out the room quietly, only Lissa realizing they were leaving. As soon as they were back at the streets, the air that entered the brunette's lungs seemed cleaner, more fulfilling. With the stress of the Council off her back, everything looked brighter and the future easier to handle.

"We did it." Her smile went from ear to ear as she talked to her husband.

"I told you we'd figure everything along the way. I'd say we're doing pretty well."

"Yeah, they only part missing is having the actual baby." They both laughed.

"After everything that has happened, I'd say that's actually the easy part."

* * *

 **I'm so sorry I made you wait so long for this chapter. You can't imagine how long I sat in front of my computer completely blank. Let me know if you liked it :)**


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